The history of the Giro Next Gen has never been particularly straightforward. Changes in organisation, dates and even its name, combined with periods of uncertainty, have often threatened the race’s continuity. In the new millennium, the event was not held in 2005, 2007 and 2008, and then again from 2013 to 2016. As a result, the primary objective has always been to ensure the race’s survival and provide Under-23 riders with a stage on which to showcase their talent.
In such a context, it has often been the southern regions of Italy that have paid the price, watching the young riders’ Corsa Rosa from afar for many years. Since the race was revived in 2017, only the first edition of its new era ventured as far south as Abruzzo, with the grand finale atop Campo Imperatore. Since then, the Giro Next Gen has remained confined to central Italy and, above all, the northern regions of the country.
To find the South playing a leading role at the Giro Next Gen, one has to go back to 2011, when the opening part of the race unfolded across Abruzzo, Puglia and Campania. Stage 2 ran from Pescara to Rodi Garganico, while Stage 3 took the peloton from San Severo to Benevento.
The so-called Mezzogiorno had marked the start of the 2006 edition, which opened with an individual time trial in Caserta before continuing through the province of Benevento and into Molise. The region of Molise had also taken centre stage in the 2003 finale, with the concluding stage finishing in Casacalenda, in the province of Campobasso.
The 2026 edition, however, will begin in Reggio Calabria before heading north through Basilicata and Puglia, with a grand finale in Abruzzo. It will be an edition staged entirely in southern Italy, something without precedent in the eventful history of the Giro Next Gen. To find the race venturing into the country’s far south, one has to go all the way back to 2001, 25 years ago. That edition, which featured no fewer than 12 stages, concluded with three days in Sicily, taking the peloton through Messina, Catania and Adrano.
