Tomorrow the first Grand Tour, the Tour of Italy, finally starts in Venice with a team time trial.

In this article you'll find the latest news around this centenary Giro: the start order for tomorrow's team time trial and a last minute change in the route of the 17th stage between Chieti and Blockhaus.
And as a bonus you'll find at the end of the article a short movie which presents the full route of all stages.

The start order for the team time trial - Saturday 9 May 2009 - Lido di Venezia

Tomorrow at the end of the afternoon the rider of the team who wins this stage who first crosses the finish line will wear the very first pink jersey of this Giro d'Italia. This first stage will take place on the island Lido di Venezia in the Gulf of Venice.

Below you'll find the start order and start time for the different teams who participate in this Tour of Italy (check out the list of selected riders including their number here):
> 3.35PM - Columbia High Road
> 3.40PM - Rabobank
> 3.45PM - Barloworld
> 3.50PM - Garmin Slipstream
> 3.55PM - AG2R La Mondiale
> 4.00PM - Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni
> 4.05PM - BBox Bouygues Telecom
> 4.10PM - Xacobeo
> 4.15PM - Silence-Lotto
> 4.20PM - Acqua e Sapone
> 4.25PM - Quick Step
> 4.30PM - Liquigas
> 4.35PM - Fuji Servetto
> 4.40PM - Cervélo TestTeam
> 4.45PM - Saxo Bank
> 4.50PM - Katusha
> 4.55PM - ISD
> 5.00PM - Milram
> 5.05PM - Lampre NGC
> 5.10PM - Caisse d'Epargne
> 5.15PM - LPR Brakes - Farnese Vini
> 5.20PM - Astana

A change in the 17th stage - Wednesday 27 May 2009 - Chieti > Blockhaus

Today the Giro d'Italia's organisation announced that the 17th stage between Chieti and Blockhaus has slightly changed:
> due to a big amount of snow on the top of the mountain the climb to the finish on top of Blockhaus has been shorted by 5,5 kilometers. The final climb thus has a total length of 17 kilometers and the finish line will be drawn at a height of 1631 meters instead of the original 2064 meters
> this stage was already quite short with only 83 kilometers and the start of the stage close to Chieti has thus also been modified to at least keep the initial length

The top of Blockhaus hasn't seen any riders of the Giro since 1984; the stage was won by Moreno Argentin in that year.

Due to this change the roof top of the Giro is on top of the Col de Sestrières in the 10th stage on Tuesday 19 May 2009. This stage between Cuneo and Pinerolo will now reach the highest point of this Tour of Italy at 2035 meters.
Some time ago, this stage has also been changed because it should initially shortly visit France via the Col de Larche. Due to the same reasons as for the 2008 Tour de France this mountain however is not accessible for riders of a Grand Tour.

The Giro d'Italia 2009 route as a movie

Some time ago I already presented you all stages and the route of the Giro d'Italia 2009, but the day before the start of course is a perfect occasion to rediscover the route of this Tour of Italy again but now in movie form:

door Thomas Vergouwen
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this publication is published in: Giro d Italia | Giro d'Italia 2009

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