The 2012 corsa rosa will be a decidedly more human affair after criticism that its traditional spectacle arguably veered toward excess last year. The Giro will break new ground by spending its opening three days in Denmark, on Jakob Fuglsang’s soil. Poignantly, stage 3 to Horsens will be dedicated to the memory of the late Wouter Weylandt who won stage 3 in the 2010 Giro.
The race will conclude with an individual time trial in the centre of Milan three weeks later. While a healthy quota of set-piece mountain stages remain a staple of the Giro, the number of transfers has been cut dramatically, an early flight from the opening stages in Denmark back to Italy notwithstanding. The final days will see a roll call of some of the Giro's most revered climbs: the Passo Giau features on stage 17, while a fearsome summit finish follows at Alpe di Pampeago two days later. The toughest stage of all will come on the penultimate day, as the riders must cross the Mortirolo before finishing atop the mighty Stelvio. Before that, the opening week should offer Daniele Bennati and the other sprinters more opportunities than they had in the entirety of last year's race.
Jakob Fuglsang expects a lot of the Giro and looks forward to the Giro. “My goal is to be in the top five, and if it goes really well maybe top three. I think it is realistic, if everything works out. It's still three weeks of racing, and it is certainly not easy, but it is my overall goal,” he said.