The 2018 Tour of the Alps will again offer a final block of mountain racing before the Giro d'Italia with a taste of the hilly circuit that will be used for the Road Race World Championships in Innsbruck.
Race organisers hope the five days of racing will again attract many of the Giro d'Italia contenders looking to test their form two weeks out from the start of the Italian Grand Tour, and the likes of Vincenzo Nibali, who has already made the World Championships in Innsbruck a major goal for 2018.
The five-day Tour of the Alps was known as the Giro del Trentino until expansion north into the Euregio macro region that includes the Tyrol, Südtirol and Trentino regions. The new-look race secured live television coverage and a stronger start list with seven WorldTour teams last spring, with Team Sky and Geraint Thomas going on to dominate the race.
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The 2018 race will be held between April 16-20, giving riders a chance to then travel to Belgium for Liege-Bastogne-Liege. Tyrol, Südtirol and Trentino use the Tour of the Alps to show off the mountain region and promote tourism in the area. 20 million people visit Tyrol, Südtirol and Trentino every year, many of them cyclists.
The organisers are confident of having even more WorldTour teams at next year's start in Arco at the northern tip of Lake Garda on April 16. The new UCI rules on team sizes means organisers will invite 20 teams (two more than in 2017) to the race. The final list of teams will be revealed in January.
Michele Scarponi won the opening stage in Innsbruck this year but was tragically killed a few days later while training near his home in central Italy. The Tour of the Alps organisers announced the creation of a special 'Team Up' prize that recalls Scarponi's friendly nature and natural team spirit. The award will recognise a moment of outstanding teamwork during each stage with a special prize and a donation to a local voluntary group.
13,100 metres of climbing in five days of racing
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