This time they're heading south to chase the pink jersey dream. The Giro Next Gen, scheduled for June 14-21, will be held entirely in Southern Italy.

Reports indicate a start from Reggio Calabria and final finish in L'Aquila. The finish line of the first stage, reserved for sprinters, will be placed in Vibo Valentia, while the second leg, from Tropea to Crotone, should also be suited to the fast men.

The first significant climbing challenges will come on the third day with the Sibari-Villa d'Afri di Marsicotevere stage, a 163-kilometer fraction with 3,200 meters of elevation gain.

From Basilicata to Puglia with the fourth stage that will take the peloton from Matera to Corato (Molino Casillo) for another possible sprint finish, then a transfer to Campania for a spectacular and decidedly challenging Bacoli-Bacoli stage.

The climbing resumes with the Lazio stage that runs from Velletri to Subiaco Monte Livata, 159 km with 3,500 meters of elevation gain, the classic five-star stage in terms of difficulty.

And the next day, Saturday June 20, a repeat in Abruzzo territory with the Sulmona - Piana delle Mele (Guardiagrele), a stage of just 128 km but with over 3,000 meters of elevation gain and therefore decidedly demanding.

Entirely in Abruzzo the grand finale with a 19.1 km time trial that will take the group from Civita di Bagno to L'Aquila.

A decidedly challenging race - totaling 1,082.1 km with 14,750 meters of elevation gain, with each road stage averaging 151.9 km - that will showcase the best of the Under 23 category: all the development squads from WorldTour and ProTeam teams are expected at the start, with increasingly limited space for traditional amateur formations, especially since this year for the first time a sort of registration fee of just over 10,000 euros per team will be instituted.

Recall that the last edition of the Giro Next Gen was won by Slovenian Jakob Omrzel, who now races for Bahrain Victorious. For the 2026 edition, Italy is counting especially on world champion in the category Lorenzo Mark Finn, who is working to regain his best form after the radius fracture he suffered at the Tour of the Alps.