Gazetta dello Sport’s website on Thursday had an announcement that took all doubts away about the seven time Tour de France champion’s participation in Giro d’ Italia after his surgery on a broken right collar bone last month.The Gazetta says that organizers where contacted by the American from Colorado last Thursday while he is currently training. Giro will have the 92nd edition race of Giro d’ Italia on May 9-31, and will now mark the 100th year since the first race commenced on May 13th of 1909.

Giro’s Centenary will be held between May 9th to 31st while the Centenary of Tour de France was done in 2003 and the organizers have come up with a special route for this year’s 100th anniversary of the Giro d’ Italia. The Giro will commence in Venice with a 21 km Team Time Trial on the Lido Island, after which 2 flat stages near Venice will go directly to the Dolomites for the mountain stages for the 4th and 5th stages.

It will then cross to the border and pass by Austria and return the next day going through a few stages near the Italian lakes – Lecco and Como and then arrive at Milan for first rest day. From Milan, the Giro will head to the Piemonte region and into the Alps for the high mountain stage from Cuneo to Pinerolo through France and the Sestriere ski nation. The race will go from the Piemonte region to the city of Turn and head southwards to the region of Tuscany and then to the city of Florence. A 62km Individual Time trial between Lido di Camorie and Sestre Levante will also be made along the way.

The race will head to Bologna from Florence and will be followed with a stage over the training grounds of Marco Pantani in Forli and Faenza. A short transfer to the beautiful region of Umbria will follow then will finish at the little known mountain top of Monte Petrano. A two day rest will take place after Monte Petrano and will transfer south to the coast of Abruzzo before starting on the final phase. Then after a day of rest, a mountain top finish to the Block Haus ski station will be followed by a flat stage in Benevento and a beautiful finish up to the extinct volcano of Vesuvio on the outskirts of Naples. There will also be another flat stage before going on the Individual time trials in Rome.

Bookings are expected to rise now with the confirmed attendance of Lance Armstrong. This is expected to be a landmark event since this is the first time Armstrong races in an Italian classic race especially since it is considered as cycling’s second most important race after the Tour de France.
Armstrong’s spokesperson Mark Higgins’ email to The Associated Press said that the athlete’s recovery has been going well and that he really plans to be there. Armstrong has been on a retirement for 3 ½ years before coming back to the race at the start of this year. After falling during the Vuelta of Castilla and Leon in Spain last March 23 and having surgery two days after, Armstrong now has a stainless steel plate and 12 screws inserted into his broken collarbone for stability. The athlete is also planning to join the Tour de France in July but worried that the French doping officials may ban him for his alleged violation of protocols during a recent drug test.

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