2014 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11 2014 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11 The 2014 Giro d'Italia began on 9 May, and stage 11 occurred on 21 May. The 2014 edition began with a team time trial in Belfast. The first three stage of the Giro began in Northern Ireland, while the Giro returned to Italy on 13 May, after the first rest day. Due to an uncleared landslide in the town of Polla, the stage was lengthened from its original itinerary of , to a distance. On this stage, members of the team wore a white cockade, in memory of the people who died
2008 Giro d'Italia Jens Voigt was the winner of stage 18. Success was achieved by only a handful of teams, meaning that other teams did not achieve much in the race. Though they nearly took the race lead with Matthias Russ in stage 6, had just two riders finish the race, and were never otherwise close to a notable result. had only four riders finish the race. Two other ProTour teams, and , similarly failed to be at all competitive in the Giro. None of them would return to the Giro in 2009; Gerolsteiner folded in 2008 after being unable to locate a