The start of the Giro d’Italia in Ireland next year looks set to be unveiled in Dublin and Belfast next week

The start of the Giro d’Italia in Ireland next year looks set to be unveiled in Dublin and Belfast next week

 

The much speculated upon Irish start to the 2014 Giro d’Italia looks set to be unveiled in Dublin and Belfast next week where press launches are planned to apparently reveal details of the project.

News that the race is due to start in Ireland – with Dublin and Belfast sharing the action – was revealed last September, with the first report in any media appearing here on stickybottle.

The press events are planned in both cities next Thursday, with the logistics of the launch being handled by Irish PR company Fleishman.

After news broke on this site, The Belfast Telegraph secured further details of the stages to be held here, suggesting the project would be a partnership between the Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB) and Failte Ireland in the Republic.

The paper reported at the time that the total costs for the submission were estimated at £3.8 million (€4.7 million). However, it was predicted that the race could generate up to £10 million (€12.4 million euro) for the local economy. It was proposed at the time that the event would take place over the Bank Holiday Weekend of May 2nd to 4th, 2014.

The Grande Partenza is traditionally formatted over six days, with the first three taken up with festival-type events in preparation. The remaining three days would see racing action.

It would be only the second time one of the sport’s big three – Giro, Tour de France and Vuelta – started in Ireland, with the Tour de France having begun in the Republic back in 1998.

The race would be a very welcome return of big time cycling to Ireland, with only the now defunct Tour of Ireland having seen professional teams regularly visit these shores in the past couple of decades, albeit for much lower profile and lower key racing.