Giro d'Italia cyclists to enter Vatican City for the first time, in tribute to the late pontiff.

The 2025 edition of the Giro d'Italia will be dedicated to Pope Francis with the last stage of the prestigious cycling race featuring a "symbolic" start from the Vatican, organisers said on Tuesday.

The final stage of the 108th edition of the Giro d'Italia, scheduled to take place in Rome on 1 June, will pass through Vatican City for the first time before concluding in the Circus Maximus.

Giro d'Italia cyclists will pass slowly through the Vatican's Porta del Perugino, near the Casa Santa Marta, in a non-competitive segment before the race begins.

Rome mayor Roberto Gualtieri on Tuesday underlined the "emotional symbolic departure from Vatican City", hailing it as "a tribute to Pope Francis and his message of hope in the Jubilee Year."

• Rome to host final stage of Giro d'Italia for third year in a row

Also present at the official presentation at city hall was Bishop Paul Tighe, secretary of the Vatican's dicastery for culture and education, who emphasised the symbolism of the event.

"The cyclists will travel along the Via Mariana, among images of the Madonna from all over the world", Bishop Tighe said, describing it as "a small tour of the world in honour of the Jubilee of Hope."

The Giro d'Italia, the cycling world's second-biggest annual stage race after the Tour de France, starts this year at Durres in Albania on 9 May.

Spanning 3,413 km in 21 stages over three weeks, the race will conclude in Rome where riders will complete eight final laps through the heart of the city centre.

It will mark the seventh time - and the third year in a row - that the race has ended in Rome.

Photo credit: Raffaele Conti 88 / Shutterstock.com.