The cycling Grand Tours are the three major professional cycling stage races: the Giro d'Italia, the Tour de France (all Tour de France bets) and the Vuelta a España.

Betting on the Giro

One of the main reasons the Giro-Tour is more difficult is that the Giro d'Italia is now a much harder race, both physically and mentally. Back in the day, the first editions of the Giro were ridden, as the Italians say, "tutto piano," at a much slower pace than the Giro.

The colour pink was chosen because La Gazzetta Dello Sport, the sports newspaper that created the Giro, was printed on pink paper. Make sports bets online with bwin.

The Alpine climbs in the Tour are generally longer, wider and more gradual than those used in the Giro. The climbs at the Giro are often narrow and steep, with drastic changes in height, making it harder for a team to control the pace of the race.

Recommended bets on the Giro d'Italia

The 105th Giro d'Italia will start on Friday, May 7 in the Hungarian capital of Budapest before concluding three weeks later on Sunday, May 29, with a 17.1km individual time trial in the streets of Verona's fairgrounds.

The complete course is composed of 21 stages covering a distance of 3410.3 kilometres and a positive altitude difference of more than 47,000 meters.

It is always difficult to predict who will succeed in a Giro in terms of the overall classification. In the last four editions, three different cyclists have finished on the podium. Place your bets on cycling with bwin.