The Giro d'Italia peloton will leave Bulgaria to travel to Italy on Sunday evening in time for the race's first rest day on Monday (Image credit: Getty Images)

The Giro d'Italia returned to Italy on Sunday evening, with riders undertaking a long transfer involving a flight from Bulgaria before heading to their hotels for a first rest day on Monday prior to the stage 4 start in Catanzaro.

A few riders made the trip wearing Covid-era face masks to avoid the risk of picking up an illness on the flight, with pre-race favourite Jonas Vingegaard lamenting the need for additional travel only three days into the race.

But rider worries aside, the 1,000km transfer, complete with a time change and a flight of an hour and 45 minutes, was expected to be quite straightforward – unlike a couple of decades ago, when it was much more of a hit-and-miss affair.

"I remember my first Giro, and the year we started in, where was it – La Maddalena," Jayco-AlUla sports director Steve Cummings recalls of the 2007 race, which…