Tour of Italy to start in Denmark

The 95th edition of the Tour of Italy will start in Denmark following the official presentation of the race in Milan on Sunday. The race will cover 3,476km over 21 stages from May 5-27, finishing in Milan with a 31.5km individual time-trial. The start in Herning, Denmark will be the most northern point in the race's history. Defending champion Alberto Contador of Spain joined former winner and home favourite Ivan Basso for the presentation which revealed three time-trials, including the opening 8.7km individual test and a longer 32.2km team time-trial on the fourth stage, the first one in Italy. Due to an internet leak the exact route of the course was no surprise for many but even so produced an interesting change as the race will start in Herning for the first two stages before moving to Hersens for the third. That will be followed by the first rest day as the riders and teams transfer to Italy. The longest stage of the race is the 11th, held over 243km from Assisi to Montecatini Terme, a stage that should favour one-day classics specialists. But although the course does not appear the toughest, the organisers insist that there are seven stages to test the legs of the mountain specialists in what they describe as "the toughest race in the world in the most beautiful country in the world". None more so than the 19th and 20th stages, finishing on the Alpe di Pampeago and the historic Passo dello Stelvio respectively, just before the final stage time-trial, ensuring the potential for fireworks right to the last. There are also several other imposing climbs such as the Cervinia and Cortina d'Ampezzo. Even if the climbers may feel they have few epic stages to make a difference, the time-trial specialists will consider their's equally slim pickings. There are no long time-trials with the final 31.5km stage unlikely to produce great gaps between the overall contenders. Even less so the short opening stage. It is perhaps the team time-trial that will prove most decisive, although again it is not a particularly long one. While the race may be starting in a country at the other end of Europe, organisers this year have at least tried to reduce the travelling time between stages by producing a smoother route, in part due to much criticism in previous years.