Last year, the Giro was won by by Canada’s Ryder Hesjedal of Garmin-Barracuda, becoming the first Canadian rider to win a Grand Tour event and the second non-European rider to win the Giro (the first being Andrew Hampsten in 1988) according to Wikipedia.
Hesjedal also became only the second rider to take the leader’s jersey from another rider on the final day, after Francesco Moser did so in 1984.
Hesjedal won the general classification by 16 seconds over runner-up Joaquim Rodríguez of Spain, representing Team Katusha – the closest race-winning margin since Eddy Merckx beat Gianbattista Baronchelli by 12 seconds in the 1974 edition – who also won two stages and the points classification title, edging out Team Sky sprinter Mark Cavendish by one point.
This year, Tour de France 2012 champion Bradley Wiggins of Team Sky is expected to do well in the Giro.
RAI
Live on Raisport 1 @ 14.00 and Rai Tre @ 15.10
Commentary on-site provided by Francesco Pancani with the technical voice of Davide Cassani
Reports from the motorbike into the race by Andrea De Luca
Interviews and reports on-site from Arianna Secondini and Enrico Cattaneo.
Post-race show “Processo alla Tappa” presented by Alessandra De Stefano with the presence in studio of Beppe Conti and Silvio Martinello: on Rai Sport 1 until 18.05 and Rai Tre until 18.05.
Daily highlights on TGiro on Rai Sport 1 @ 19.30 presented by Andrea De Luca and Davide Cassani.
Nightly review on “GiroNotte” on Rai Sport 1 @ 00.00 presented by Piergiorgio Serverini and Gigi Sgarbozza
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
GAZZETTA TV
Live streaming @ 15.00 (delayed broadcast @ 18.00 in Italy), highlights and news
Reports and interviews on site from Jacopo Gerna, Nino Morici, Ciro Scognamiglio, Marco Pastonesi, Claudio Ghisalberti and Luca Gialanella.
Commentary provided by Andrea Berton with the presence in studio of cycling journalists of La Gazzetta dello Sport.
Daily magazine with behind the scene and extra features presented by Paolo Condò
EUROSPORT
Live on Eurosport International and/or Eurosport 2 from 14.15 to 17.30
Reports on-site from Christian Chambres
Commentary provided by:
GERMAN: Karsten Migels, Jean Claude Leclercq
DUTCH: Martijn BERKHOUT, Thijs ZONNEVELD
ITALIAN: Salvatore AIELLO, Riccardo MAGRINI
SPANISH: Antonio ALIX, Eduardo Chozas
PORTUGESE: LuÃs Picarra, Paulo Martins
GREEK: Vassilis Anastopoulos
SWEDISH: Roberto VACCHI
DANISH: Rene Wenzel, Peer Kaae
FINNISH: Peter SELIN, Christian SELIN
NORWEGIAN: Arild ERIKSEN
POLISH: Tomasz JARONSKI
ROUMANIAN: Andrei COMSA, Emanuel TERZIAN
BULGARIAN: Evgeni Stavrev, Kamen Stanchev
HUNGARIAN: Gergõ BODNÁR, László PINTÉR
CZECH: Stepan Straka
SERBIAN: Ognjen VELJIC, Djordje PEJKOVIC
Simulcast on Eurosport Player
uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/cycling/giro
be IN SPORT (France)
Live@ 14.30 on beIN SPORT 2
Pre-race show: 20 minutes before the start of the live
Post-race show: special 45 minutes magazine
Commentary on-site provided by Emmanuel Barth and Cédric Vasseur (analyst).
Interviews on-site from Anne-Laure Bonnet, Samuel Ollivier and Fabien Douillard
VRT
Live on Sporza from 14:30 till 17:30 CET (First stage starts @ 14.15)
Commentary on-site provided by Renaat Schotte and José De Cauwer with the assistance of André Meganck
Live streaming on www.sporza.be/cm/sporza/videozone
TV 2 DENMARK
Live on TV 2 Sporten from 14.30 to 17.30
Commentary provided by Jørgen Leth, Rolf Sørensen and Dennis Ritter
Pre-race and Post-race show ‘Giro-studiet’presented by Denis Ritter
Reports on site from Anders Krog Sørensen
Live streaming on play.tv2.dk
SRG SSR
CHRSI: Live on RSI 2 from 14.30 to 17.30.
Commentary on-site provided by Giancarlo Dionisio and Marco Vitali
Live streaming on www.rsi.ch
CHSRF: highlights during weekend
CHRTS: highlights during weekend
NOS TV
Daily Highlights @ 18.44 on Ned 1 and @ 22.40 on Ned 2 (weekly days).
Saturday highlights @18.50 and @ 23.57 on Ned 1
Sunday Highlights @ 13.10 and 18.10 on Ned 1.
EUSKAL TELEBISTA (ETB)
Live on ETB1 @ 15:00
Commentary provided by Julian Gorospe and Aitor Osa (former professional cyclists)
Daily show presented by FermÃn Aramendi and Xabier Usabiaga
TELEVISIO DE CATALUNYA (TV3)
Live on Esport3 @ 14:30
Commentary provided by Arcadi Alibes and Angel Edo (former professional cyclist)
Sunday Highlights @ 13.10 and 18.10 on Ned 1.
TELEVISION DE GALICIA (TVG)
Live on TVG2 @ 15:30
Commentary provided by Terio Carrera and Gustavo Varela with the presence of Oscar Pereiro, Alvaro Pino and Ezequiel Mosquera (former professional cyclists).
TELEVISION PRINCIPADO DE ASTURIAS (TPA)
Liveon TPA @ 14:50
Commentary provided by Ignacio Tuñón and the fomer professional cyclists Carlos Barredo and Chechu Rubiera
SKY SPORTS UK
90′ Highlights every day from 19.00 on Sky Sports (channel may vary from day to day)
Post-race show presented by Orla Chennaoui (on-site) and Graham Little (from studio)
Interviews and reports on site from Jeremy Langdon(Sky Sports News)
Features available on Sky Go on pc and mobile applications
RADIO RAI
Live show on Radio 1 “BaoBab” @ 15.00 during weekdays and @ 14.00 during weekend.
Commentary provided by Emanuele Dotto and Giovanni Scaramuzzino
Reports from the race by Tarcizio Mazzeo and Massimo Ghirotto
BBC RADIO
Live broadcast on BBC Radio 5 and BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra.
Preview programme on BBC Radio 5 Live and daily reviews on main radio sport programme
Commentary on-site provided by Simon Brotherton and Rob Hayles
Live broadcast on BBC Sport apps for smart phones and tablets.