AAVC Juniors Giro d'Italia Game Starts on Friday!
Laurens De Jong
Let's all play!
It is time to play the 2026 AAVC Giro d'Italia Game. This year's Giro promises to be a very competitive race. (Read: Tadej Pogačar isn't racing.) Although for the purpose of our game, the winner isn't important. Who finished 25th in the general classification is just as important.
Never played before? TL;DR? Go to the entry form HERE and pick your 18 riders for this year's Giro d'Italia game. If you're concerned about rules, you can find them HERE. Register as soon as possible, preferably before the race starts on May 8. But many of you know that if you're demonstrably honest, I will let you play even if you're late. If you're late and I find your starting list questionable, then I will ask questions.
To all the new recruits, and everyone who hasn’t played in the past because they thought you have to be an expert: and to all our friends outside the Ann Arbor Velo Club: just give this game a go. Read the links below and pick 18 riders. Cycling is a team sport, playing this game is a team sport. We all enjoy the outcome, regardless of who wins. The more teams we have, the more we get to follow riders that otherwise would go unnoticed.
If you play the game, you'll also receive the daily award*-winning AAVC Stage Reports. If you want to receive those but don't want to actually pick your 18 favorite riders, then you can be added to the mailing list HERE.
Helpful links and tips.
Startlist on Pro Cyclist Stats (it’s what I use to create the registration form): https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/giro-d-italia/2026/startlist
PCS also uses their own ranking to break down the GC contenders, sprinters, other experts. It can be misleading because past success may not indicate that a rider is peaking for the Giro. Use this as a general guide to start selecting your riders:
https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/giro-d-italia/2026/startlist/top-gc-riders
https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/giro-d-italia/2026/startlist/sprinters
https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/giro-d-italia/2026/startlist/tt-specialists
As many of you know, the Giro d'Italia is my favorite grand tour. It's the most chaotic, the least predictable. Maybe not the hardest. I'm not sure about the 2026 edition. There's only one individual time trial, but it's a long 42 kilometers. There is climbing in every week. There are sprint stages. And the climb to Piani di Pezzè has never been done before and it is actively looking to kill someone.
So I actually don't know. Pick a time trial expert? For that one stage, in week 2? Sprinters? Too many, too few? I rarely win this game
Cycling Stages lists 17 contenders for the overall victory. If you take all of those riders and add a sprinter, you could probably do worse. Take a look: https://www.cyclingstage.com/giro-2026-favourites/contenders-italy-2026/
IDL (In De Leiderstrui) has previews for each of the major classifications:
If you're American, Canadian, British, or Australian: IDL also previews riders from those countries: https://www.idlprocycling.com/cycling/your-guide-to-the-english-speaking-riders-at-the-2026-giro-ditalia
Over on YouTube, Lanterne Rouge does their two-hour preview: https://youtu.be/XPDX0Fdut-g
My favorite preview on YouTube from Cycling Guy: https://youtu.be/YHWAqGVNDpE
My thought is that if you can't think of 18 riders, make sure you play the game to learn more about pro cycling. Let's all play!
Enter your 18 riders using the Google Form HERE as soon as possible.
Pedalare! Pedalare!
-laurens
* No actual award has ever been given.