This year's Giro d'Italia will start with an individual time-trial in the streets of Turin on 8 May, organisers announced on Thursday.
The first three stages of the 104th edition will be hosted in the northern Piedmont region.
The second stage, which will suit the sprinters, will cover 173km from Stupinigi to Novara, followed by 187km from Biella to Canale.
Piedmont will still be involved in the final week of the three-week race with the 19th stage finishing on the summit of Alpe di Mera, in Valsesia.
It will be the third time Turin has hosted the 'Grande Partenze' after 1961 to celebrate the centenary of Italian unification and in 2011 for the 150th anniversary.
The remainder of the route of this 104th edition, the second of cycling's big tours, which runs from 8-30 May has not yet been revealed.
Britain's Tao Geoghegan Hart of Team Ineos won last year's race which took place in October because of the coronavirus pandemic.