Next year's Giro d'Italia will start in Turin after organisers announced on Monday the first three stages of cycling's second-largest Grand Tour.
Primoz Roglic will begin his title defence on May 4 at Venaria Reale just north of football club Juventus' Allianz Stadium and finish the opening stage in central Turin after a 28-kilometre circuit of the city.
The race will stay in Piedmont in Italy's north-west for the next two stages, with an 11km, 6.2 per cent gradient climb to Santuario di Oropa in the Italian Alps coming at the end of the 150km second stage which starts in San Francesco al Campo.
A flat, sprinter-friendly third stage between Novara and Fossano follows while stage four begins in Acqui Terme before taking the riders out of Piedmont and into an as-yet unnamed destination in the neighbouring seaside region of Liguria.
The Giro last began in Turin in 2021 when two-time world time-trial champion Filippo Ganna won the opening ITT stage.
Next year's complete route will be announced on Friday.
THE OPENING THREE STAGES OF THE 2024 GIRO D'ITALIA:
May 4: Stage 1 - Venaria Reale-Turin (136km)
May 5: Stage 2 - San Francesco al Campo-Santuario di Oropa (150km)
May 6: Stage 3 - Novara–Fossano (165km)