CyclistThrowing Van der Poel a bone: What do we make of the 2027 Giro dItalia route?The off-season is well underway, but 2027 is just around the corner. And just as the pros thought they could put their feet up for some rest, theyve got a new Grand Tour route to consider: the 2027 Giro dItalia.The route for the 110th edition of the Giro was unveiled this week, with Trieste playing co-host to a cross-border Grande Partenza shared with Slovenia. From the Adriatic, the race will spin around Italys mainland, with key GC rendezvous scheduled at the iconic Mortirolo and Zoncolan, plus Giro newbies Monte Livanta and Piani di Bobbio.For all the stage profiles, read our full stage-by-stage preview. Now that weve had a couple of days to assess the route, however, its time to ask what we can take away from the 2027 parcours. Who should be clearing their schedules for May 2027?A punchy MVDP-friendly opening weekChris AuldThe first three stages of the 2027 Giro conclude on punchy profiles, characterised by short steep ramps. Its the kind of thing that usually suits the Classics men who have a fair sprint on them.This could well be an attempt to attract the likes of Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel to the race, both of whom have only ridden the Giro once before. And given the stages early slot in the parcours, the duo could both be in with a shout at getting hold of the pink jersey for a few days, at least until the race reaches the mountains on Stage 5.The problem is that the opening week of next years Tour de France is quite similar. Puncheurs dont have the chance to pull on the yellow jersey from Stage 1 there, but there are definitely several chances of stage glory early on in the 2027 edition. Targeting the Classics, Giro start and week one of the Tour might prove overly ambitious for Van der Poel, but that hasnt stopped him before. He tried that tactic in 2022, although he ultimately left the Tour empty-handed.The Dutchman has worn pink before, so theres no explicit need to go for it again in terms of jersey completion. Van Aert, however, is yet to wear the pink jersey. In fact, its the only leaders jersey missing from his Grand Tour collection.Mountain-heavy final weekChris AuldThe Giro is liberally punctuated by mountain stages next year. There are summit finishes throughout the first two weeks, often in locations that have never hosted the Corsa Rosa before.But as usual, the Giro has thrown il lavello della cucina at the final week of racing. Thats quite the contrast in comparison to the Tour in 2027, which relies on just two mountain stages in its final week, with only one finishing at altitude.The Giro dItalia, however, has thrown in a behemoth of a queen stage on day 16. Two ascents of the Mortirolo, one time up the Gavia and the slog to Aprica take this stages total elevation up to 5,700m. That makes this one of the toughest queen stages in a modern Grand Tour, at least in the post-doping era.The two remaining mountain stages look quite different, albeit they are similar in difficulty. Stage 18 to Madonna di Campiglio features half a dozen category one climbs en route to a tame final climb, while Stage 20s return to the Zoncolan tables a hellishly steep final ramp, which can only suit the specialists.In an ideal world, its the kind of week where everything could change. The three days suit different types of riders, so we could see the GC yo-yo over the course of the week. However, we still run the risk that the pink jersey ends up winning three stages that week, extending their gap in the process. Jonas Vingegaard, anyone?Its a bold move, but one that hopefully plays in the favour of fans at home craving some final week drama.Not one for the pure sprintersChris AuldThe Giro has gone back and forth on its stance on sprinting stages. Despite a feast of flat stages in 2026, the race failed to attract the big sprinting names some may have expected, especially when a pink jersey was on the line in Bulgaria.In response, the race has veered away from the purists, instead opting for a course favouring tougher sprinters in 2027. In fact, there are only four stages that directly suggest a sprint finish, and thats excluding any chance of breakaway success.On the other hand, there are around five stages that conclude either with slight uphills or with hills positioned within the final 15km. This should give the tougher sprinters, names like Mads Pedersen, Paul Magnier and Biniam Girmay, a bit of a leg-up, and a head-start in the points classification.That should be fine with them, however. The Tour already looked well suited for the sprinting purists. Theyve got two chances to wear the yellow jersey and a whole host of flat stages to contest next July.This could plunge Lidl-Trek into a conundrum. Italian champion Jonathan Milan will no doubt want to show off his jersey, but Pedersen would thrive on this route, setting him up for perhaps another maglia ciclamino run.Fishing for SloveniansRCS Sports & Events / Red Bull Content PoolWe speculated about who the Tour de France were trying to entice, so we should really do the same with the Giro.The most obvious line of argument for this is that the Tour are trying to lure in some Slovenians. The Grande Partenza is more Slovenian than it is Italian, and Im sure the Slovenians will be out to prove that on the roadside.Tadej Pogaar is very unlikely to bend his schedule in order to go to the Giro. Hes already shared his plan for 2027: Tour Down Under, Classics, then the Tour and Vuelta.Primo Rogli signing up for the Giro, however, is much more feasible. Arguably, hes just as famous in Slovenia as his five-time Tour-winning compatriot. He skipped the Tour last year, and without Vingegaard or Pogaar on the start line, he could have a genuine chance of reaching the podium. Thats if he ends up signing for a new team in 2027.Otherwise, the likes of Jakob Omrzel and Matej Mohori will provide some local intrigue. The former could even be contending for a top ten overall if his breakthrough Vuelta was anything to go by.However, I feel as though Slovenias role in the race could raise another question. Does this Slovenian Grande Partenza sound the death knell the end of the countrys Tour de France Grand Dpart bid?The Slovenian government made its bid official last summer, with 2029 and 2031 mentioned as target dates. While the government of Friuli-Venezia Giulia are footing most of the bill for the Giro start, it might be seen as too soon for a Grand Tour to start in Slovenia again.Then again, Turin welcomed the Giro, Tour and Vuelta all in the space of two years. Likewise, the Netherlands managed to wield hosting rights for the Tour and Giro in 2015 and 2016 respectively. Slovenias current position on the cycling map does make it unique, so race organisers might as well strike while the irons hot.How does it compare to the Tour?Chris AuldOne of my big criticisms of the 2027 Tour route was the lack of summit finishes. The Giro seems to have counterbalanced that by throwing in a total of seven. Theyre of varying difficulty too, varying from lighter 5% average climbs to the stinging double-digits of the Zoncolan. The latter is a much tougher climb than anything the Tour has opted for this year.Despite a parcours thats actually 2,000m lighter than the Tour in terms of total elevation gain, it feels as though the Giros route suits the climbers better. Thats because the mountains come in more influential bursts, noticably the seven summit finishes, although the Tours lack of high-altitude climbs seems to be mirrored at the Giro, with the exception of the 2,600m Passo Gavia.The Tours route raised eyebrows over its 71km of time-trials. The Giro had the chance to be reactionary to that, but instead stuck with the 56km already planned. Yes, one of the Giros time-trials will be uphill, but its not a crazy enough gradient to see it turn into a big GC showdown. So while the time-trialling kilometres are lower than the Tours, GC contenders will still be punished if they dont feel comfortable on a TT bike.Theres no clear answer as to who should go to Italy instead of the Tour for maximum profit, even if the seven summit finishes should entice purer climbers to Trieste.Sometimes it feels as though the Giro and Tour routes are too similar, but to their credit, next years races look to complement each other quite well. More importantly in terms of the overall GC, the sports two biggest names Pogaar and Vingegaard have already confirmed theyll be skipping the Giro in 2027. So who does that leave us with? Felix Gall and Paul Seixas, this may be your timeThe post Throwing Van der Poel a bone: What do we make of the 2027 Giro dItalia route? appeared first on Cyclist.