time trial stage. The first stage in modern Giros is often a short trial, a prologue, to decide who wears pink on the opening day. The first prologue occurred in the 1968 Giro d'Italia. The route stretched around the streets of Campione d'Italia and was won by the Frenchman Charly Grosskost. The riders raced the course in an unusual format, with the riders racing in ten groups of thirteen and the time not being counted towards their overall time. The first team time trial occurred in the 1937 Giro d'Italia and was won by the Italian team, Legnano. The course was in length and stretched from Viareggio to Marina di Massa. The Giro takes place mainly in Italy, but some stages have departure or conclusion locations in, or pass through, the neighboring countries of San Marino, France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia and Vatican City State. The other countries visited, usually in connection with the opening stages of the race, are Belgium, Luxembourg, Croatia, Denmark, Ireland, Germany, Greece, Israel, Netherlands, Monaco and the United Kingdom. The start and finish of the Giro For nearly half a century, the Giro started and finished by Milan, the city where the headquarters of the Gazzetta dello Sport is located. In 1911 these events took place in Rome to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Italy's unification. With the occasional exception, the start and finish in Milan were the standard for the Giro d'Italia. However, since the 1960s the place of departure has changed each year and finishes in cities such as Verona, Brescia, Trieste, Turin and Rome have become more frequent. The start of the Giro d'Italia (La Grande Partenza'') is a significant occasion and cities invest heavily, hoping to recoup the cost in tourism, exposure and other benefits: Denmark spent an estimated $3.86 million to host the opening stages of the 2012 edition. Starts outside Italy For the first 47 editions of the race, the race started on Italian soil. In 1965 the race made its first foreign start in San Marino, and has since had twelve more foreign starts. The 2018 start in Jerusalem, Israel was met with controversy as activists called for the race to be moved, claiming that the race whitewashes Israel's human rights record. Ultimately, the race went ahead as scheduled and every team selected for the Giro took part, including two teams of Arabic ownership: the Bahrain-Mérida team and the