Winter Olympics torch relay to start this month as 12,000km journey is revealed

The route for the Winter Olympics torch relay has been confirmed ahead of next February’s Games

The Winter Olympics torch relay is due to get underway later this month (REUTERS)

The Olympic torch will embark on a 12,000 km (7,455 mile) journey across Italy for two months, ahead of February's Winter Olympics, say organisers.

The relay will visit landmarks like Rome's Colosseum and Venice's Grand Canal. It extends to southern cities like Palermo and Naples, to spark excitement in areas where excitement for winter sports is less prevalent.

The Games, co-hosted by Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, run from February 6-22.

Giovanni Malago, president of the Milano Cortina 2026 Foundation, stated: "Every step of the relay through our cities will remind the world of the power of sport to build bridges and break down barriers," adding the journey would celebrate "the essence of Italy."

The flame begins its odyssey on 26 November in Olympia, the Greek home of the ancient Games. Italian officials will receive the torch in Athens on 4 December, with the Italian leg of the journey commencing from Rome two days later.

Giovanni Malago says the Olympic torch relay will celebrate ‘the essence of Italy’ (AP)

The torch will spend Christmas in Naples, before making its way to the southern city of Bari to see in the New Year. It will arrive in Cortina on 26 January – exactly 70 years after the 1956 Games' opening ceremony.

The relay will start each day at 7:30a.m. (6:30a.m. GMT), before concluding 12 hours later with a cauldron lighting in the final city of the day.

It culminates in Milan, entering the San Siro stadium on the evening of 6 February for the opening ceremony.

Next year’s Winter Olympics will be the third time Italy has hosted the Games.

The Games were first held in Italy in 1956 in Cortina, but the European nation had to wait another 50 years for its next opportunity to host.

In 2006, the Winter Olympics took place in Turin, and in February, they will head to Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo.