RCS cycling director Mauro Vegni has denied the rumour in the Belgian website Sport/Voetbalmagazine that the 2017 Giro d’Italia will start in Japan. This means the wait for a Grand Tour to start outside of Europe will go on.

“This is not something that you can do already for the next year, it takes time, agreements from the UCI and from the teams,” Vegni told Cycling Weekly.

“So two things, it’s too early and it’s 2017, the 100th edition of the Giro. I’d like to have a Giro that stays in Italy to celebrate the start of this Grand Tour in 1909. I’ve always said that’s the case with the 100th edition.” Vegni also said that it would take at least two rest days for the team’s to get all their equipment back from Japan and all the riders to have sufficiently recovered from jetlag.

The Belgian article says details have already been finalized. The €35m budget would be sorted by Asatsu-DK, the third largest advertising company in Japan, with €15m going to RCS Sport. The 22 teams would receive €500,000 from RCS Sport each for their troubles. The article also says that by the time 2015 has finished, the UCI and RCS would have reached an agreement to give the teams an extra rest day.