The Giro d'Italia will start in Bulgaria for the first time next year after the 2025 edition set off from Albania, organisers said on Friday.

It will be the 16th time in 109 editions that the Giro has started outside Italy, with Belgium, Greece, France, Hungary and Northern Ireland among opening-stage hosts in the past.

"In May we started from Albania, next year from Bulgaria," RCS Media Group president Urbano Cairo told the Festival of Sport event in Trento.

"These initiatives have a positive impact, they are appreciated in the countries we go to but also by Italians who discover new territory.

"We are giving a boost to Italian export, and that's an objective for our country. The Giro d'Italia is an ambassador for sport in the world, taking it overseas opens doors."

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