{"id":197647,"date":"2025-01-16T08:14:40","date_gmt":"2025-01-16T08:14:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=197647"},"modified":"2025-01-16T08:14:40","modified_gmt":"2025-01-16T08:14:40","slug":"lots-of-mountains-and-no-vingegaard-or-pogacar-at-the-2025-giro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2025\/01\/16\/lots-of-mountains-and-no-vingegaard-or-pogacar-at-the-2025-giro\/","title":{"rendered":"Lots of Mountains and no Vingegaard or Poga\u010dar\u00a0Will Make for a Thrilling Giro"},"content":{"rendered":"

With a dynamite opening in Albania and two potentially explosive final two mountain stages, with about 5,000 m of climbing in each before the race ends with a champagne parade in Rome, this year\u2019s Giro d\u2019Italia could be a classic Grand Tour. And with Tadej Poga\u010dar\u00a0and Jonas Vingegaard both giving the race a pass in favour of preparing for the Tour de France, there should be suspense until the stage 20 climb of the Colle delle Finestre (18.5 km @ 9.2%, with ramps up to 14%) and the summit finish shortly thereafter on the category 3 climb to Sestriere, near the French border.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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That makes for 3,413.3 km of hard riding over three weeks, and the racing begins in earnest with the very first stage, which takes place on Friday, May 9, in the Albanian city of Durres. For the 15th time in its history, the Giro has a foreign start, with Albania kicking off its first-ever Grand Tour. The three Albanian stages include a 13.7 km time trial (stage 2) and two tough climbs in stages 1 and 3, with the category 2 climb (10.7% @ 7.4 km) near the end of stage 3, an early test of the GC favourites.<\/p>\n

That group will surely be headed by Primo\u017e Rogli\u010d\u00a0(Red Bull\u2013BORA\u2013hansgrohe) who has won 5 Grand Tours including the Giro in 2023. He will have lots of keen rivals, such as Vingegaard\u2019s new Visma\u2013Lease a Bike teammate Simon Yates who has won the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a\u00a0and 10 Grand Tour stages, including 6 in the Giro, and Simon\u2019s twin brother, Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) who, at 32, would surely love to score a Grand Tour win. However, with Vingegaard and Poga\u010dar not in the race, some other teams will be sorely tempted to send their best GC riders to have a shot at the big prize so there may very well be a surprise finish.<\/p>\n

Many of the first nine stages are lumpy enough to interest Visma\u2019s Wout van Aert who is coming off a season ruined by injuries and, judging by his recent cyclocross performances, is in excellent form again, as he was in last year\u2019s Vuelta until he crashed out. Stage 8 includes the first serious climb of the race, the category 1\u00a0Valico di Santa Maria Maddelena\u00a0(13.1 km @ 7.4%, with ramps of up to 14%). Stage 9 should be of special interest to van Aert and other one-day specialists as it mimics the classic Strade Bianche with five white gravel sectors and the legendary finish in the Piazza del Campo in Siena. If I had to choose only one of the 21 stages to watch, that one would be it.<\/p>\n

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A post shared by Giro d’Italia (@giroditalia)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n