Might as well plan ahead, whether to catch it or avoid it; the schedule and itinerary is now online at the Gazzetta dello Sport.

Due to important changes in the professional racing circuit regulations — requiring all professional teams competing in the Tour de France to field a Giro team as well — the Giro this year will be emerging from its kid-sister status; Lance Armstrong's Discovery team will participate for example, although probably not with Lance.

4-29 May; a rather better connected route than usual, starting in Reggio Calabria and shooting up the peninsula pretty straight, except a wide detour around Umbria. Among the places often mentioned on this board, stage finishes in Viterbo, Grosseto, Florence, Pistoia, Ravenna, Turin.

Topping this off since the Giro starts May 7 and most of us will probably need to scrounge to see on what channel the Giro will be shown in our areas.

In the States, the Giro used to be shown on OLN-TV but apparently it's been dropped by that network, and this, curiously, despite the race's higher profile this year; it may not be possible to see it.

If anyone gets any better information, please post it here! The Giro coverage is an excellent way for us to see interesting parts of Italy not usually covered in the repetitive travelogs of the usual culprits; I owe my visit of Brisighella to it, for example.