Giro d'Italia 2006 bike race begins in Belgium, wraps up in Italy

It has many cyclists, especially the sprinters, saying, “Arresti il dolore” while the climbers must be saying, “Molto buon.”

The first of Europe's triumverate of three-week-long cycling classics, the Giro runs May 6-28. It begins in Belgium this year for four days of bicycle racing before heading to Italy for the remaining 17 days of cycling. Why Belgium? To commemorate the deaths of 136 Italians among 262 miners who lost their lives during a coal mine disaster in 1956.

The official Giro d'Italia website describes the stages, with elevation cross sections for the mountainous stages. The website is in Italian, so bring your Babelfish (also to translate my lame attempt at quotes in Italian).

The 21-day bike race covers 2,202 miles and includes 10 flat or rolling stages, four medium mountain days, four strenuous mountain stages, three individual and one team time trial, reports CyclingNews.

Those mountain stages come during the final days of the Giro, with finishes atop Monte Bondone, Plan de Corones (featuring a steep unpaved climb), and Passo San Pellegrino. The penultimate stage includes climbs over Gavia and Mortirolo.

Then the last day is the easy roll into Milan, right? No. It's split into two stages: a 6.8-mile individual time trial up Ghisallo, then a finish for the sprinters from Lecco to Milan.

Paolo Savoldelli, Il Falco, who won last year's Giro on the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team, has vowed to return this year to attempt a third Giro win. However, members of the Discovery team, as well as T-Mobile, CSC and other non-Italian teams didn't attend the ceremonies to voice their displeasure in facing a team time trial as well as the closing climbing time trial, according to CyclingPost.com.

Cycling's most dangerous sprinter, Alessandro Petacchi, said he may not compete in the Giro in 2006, instead opting for the Tour de France, according to CNN. The 31-year-old sees only five purely flat stages for sprinters. “Now, I'm looking to change my race program for next season and perhaps replace the Giro with the Tour.”