Giro D'Italia: stage one

Giro D'Italia: stage one

Date: 9 May 2014

Team time trial

Stage one of the Giro D'Italia in Northern Ireland is a team time trial (21.7km) through Belfast, taking the following route:

Titanic Belfast
Newtownards Road
Stormont
Queen’s Bridge
Ormeau Road
Stranmillis
Belfast City Hall

The starting point is Titanic Belfast, the world's largest Titanic visitor experience, and one of Belfast and Northern Ireland's must-see attractions. The route continues along the Newtownards Road passing a number of wall murals, including those dedicated to east Belfast’s shipbuilding legacy and Belfast-born writer CS Lewis, author of The Narnia Chronicles.

The next major place of interest on the route is Parliament Buildings at Stormont, which is home to the Northern Ireland Assembly, the legislative body for Northern Ireland established under the Belfast Agreement 1998 (Good Friday Agreement).

Heading across the Lagan River, the route passes over Queen’s Bridge, opened in 1849 by Queen Victoria. Over a century ago, many Harland and Wolff workers would cross the Queen’s Bridge each day, making their way to and from the shipyards, to build Titanic.

The time trial continues south along the Ormeau Road, one of Belfast's oldest and most significant roads. Along here, the route passes the Gasworks site, where Belfast became one of the first towns in Ireland to use coal gas for lighting, and Ormeau Park, the city’s first public park, established in 1871.

The route winds its way through to Stranmillis, home to popular visitor attractions like the Ulster Museum, the Lyric and Crescent theatres and Botanic Gardens, as well as the nearby Queen’s University.

The route returns to the city centre and ends in front of Belfast City Hall