The Trofeo Senza Fine raised in the Eternal City… hard to think of a happier epilogue. The Giro d’Italia 2024 will end in the capital, in Rome, repeating the incredible spectacle offered last year. It will be an opportunity to relive the three hard but exciting weeks spent on Italian roads, with attacks, climbs, descents, time trials and sprints, and doing so through an open-air museum like Rome will have a special touch…
The last 122 km – somewhat processional for GC leaders but definitely crucial for sprinters – will give us the chance to enjoy some of the most outstanding sights of the city, from the Colosseum to the Baths of Caracalla, passing along River Tiber, the Circus Maximus, the Altar of the Fatherland and the Capitoline Hill, with the grand finale just a few metres from the Imperial Fora. A loop to be repeated six times, which is likely to give the sprinters one last chance to make their mark, in one of the most fascinating and prestigious settings they could dream of.
Rome will host the 21st and final stage of Italy’s most important bike race for the sixth time in the event’s history and for the second year in a row. The first Grand Arrival in Rome, back in 1911, was held at the Campo di Centocelle, with Ezio Corlaita taking stage win and Carlo Galetti crowned king of the Giro (the Maglia Rosa was only introduced in 1931). Rome hosted the final stage again in 1950, when Oreste Conte raised his arms to the sky on the Archaeological Promenade in Viale Baccelli, with overall victory going to Hugo Koblet.
Rome again provided the backdrop for the last chapter of the Giro d’Italia in 2009, when Lithuania’s Ignatas Konovalovas won the 15km time trial and Denis Menchov took home the Maglia Rosa, after almost losing it due to a slip on the rain-soaked cobblestones.
The latest arrivals in Rome are recent history: in 2018 Sam Bennett defeated Elia Viviani in a bunch sprint, with Chris Froome anointed king after his stunning performance on the Colle delle Finestre. Last year, Mark Cavendish went even further into legend, becoming the oldest rider ever to win at the Giro, while Primož Roglič celebrated in the Maglia Rosa. Rome is waiting for its new King.
