The Giro ready to restart, Nibali "It's the best race, it excites me"

The

, as the most coveted jersey by the 184 cyclists who from Saturday will battle with pedal strokes up and down the beautiful country.

    With the presentation of the 23 competing teams, in the setting of the Castello del Valentino, Savoy residence and Unesco heritage, the countdown of the 104th edition of the cycling Giro d'Italia begins in Turin, as always organized by Rcs Sport .

from the central Piazza Castello to the Great Mother of God, which in the pandemic know so much about restarting, after last year's postponed edition.

    The goal of each team, eight riders each, is the same: to be in front of everyone on May 30th in Milan, for the grand finale in Piazza Duomo, and to win the endless Trophy. To do this, however, it will be necessary to start well already on Saturday, when the corridors will parade between Corso San Maurizio, Parco del Valentino, Borgo Medievale, Ponte Isabella, Piazza Zara and Corso Moncalieri, touching many places in the heart of the first capital of Italy, which returns to host the start of the Giro for the 160th anniversary of the Unification, as it did 10 years ago for the 150th anniversary.

    There are

. In addition to the time trial on Saturday, also on 9 and 10 May, with the routes from Stupinigi to Novara and from Biella to Canale, to then return on Friday 28 with the arrival in Valsesia and on Saturday 29 with the departure from Verbania.

"Ours is a land of sporting excellence and great enthusiasts - underlines the president of the Piedmont Region, Alberto Cirio, from the stage set up for the presentation of the teams - and the Giro is Italian passion: our hills and our mountains are ready to welcome tourists ".

    Shooting does not mean everyone is free, we must respect the distance and wear a mask, but the Giro, "which is always beautiful, this year is even more so - says Cirio - We must believe in the Giro and in the restart: we are vaccinating thousands of people and it is important to pedal to get out of the crisis as quickly as possible ".

    Whoever goes faster will win the first pink jersey.

And the favorites are different: the English Tao Geoghegan Hart cannot defend the world title, because he is absent to concentrate on the next events, so many are betting on the Colombian Egan Bernal who, in 2019, triumphed at the Tour de France, while the major pitfalls they are represented by the English Simon Yates.

    "It is a race that lasts three weeks, it will be necessary to see the physical condition, but the ambition is great",

. "Let's see how the first stages go: we evaluate day by day how it will go", the words of another long-awaited cyclist, the Slovakian Peter Sagan of Bora-Hansgrohe.

    Despite the wrist injury on 14 April,

even if there is great uncertainty about his physical condition. "For me it is the most beautiful race, it gives me great emotions", says the winner of the 2013 and 2016 editions, right in Turin.