{"id":204287,"date":"2025-12-02T13:57:47","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T13:57:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=204287"},"modified":"2025-12-02T13:57:47","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T13:57:47","slug":"does-less-climbing-mean-more-stars-in-next-years-giro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2025\/12\/02\/does-less-climbing-mean-more-stars-in-next-years-giro\/","title":{"rendered":"Does Less Climbing Mean More Stars in Next Year\u2019s Giro?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Next year\u2019s Giro d\u2019Italia looks like a change from the recent trend of more and steeper mountains and fewer opportunities for sprinters and all-rounders. Giro organisers are hoping that it will attract some superstars to the race. According to what the incoming Giro director, Paolo Bellino, told Cyclingnews,\u00a0<\/em>this \u201cretro innovation\u201d is being implemented to attract the likes of Jonas Vingegaard (Visma\u2013 Lease a Bike) and Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull\u2013BORA\u2013hansgrohe).<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Luring Evenepoel and Vingegaard<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cWe’re trying to set up a real battle between some ‘grande campione’, some real big names,\u201d he told the publication. \u201cBut I only like to announce things when they’re a done deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

In that, he was confirming what outgoing Giro director Mauro Vegni had said Monday at the presentation of next year\u2019s route: \u201cIf I were Jonas Vingegaard, I wouldn’t let a chance like this escape me. If he won the 2026 Giro, he’d complete the Grand Tour set.\u201d He then added: \u201cWe’ve heard both Vingegaard and Evenepoel want to ride the Giro. They’d be two big-name riders. Even [Tadej] Poga\u010dar will be back sooner or later.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coincidentally, Vingegaard \u2013 who has two Tour de France titles (2022, 2023) and won this year\u2019s Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a \u2013 has been thinking about riding the Giro next year, even if it means reducing further his chances of beating Poga\u010dar in the Tour next year. \u201cWinning all three Grand Tours or the Tour de France in 2026?\u201d he reflected in the pages of La Derni\u00e8re Heure<\/em><\/a>.<\/em> \u201cI think I\u2019d rather win the three Grand Tours. The Giro is still left.\u201d<\/p>\n

A \u201csofter\u201d race<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Giro\u2019s strategy is understandable because superstars attract sponsors and money, but it\u2019s a shame in a way because last year\u2019s Giro was a wonderful race, won dramatically on the penultimate stage by Simon Yates. In any case, the strategy has moved race organisers to \u201csoften\u201d the 2026 Giro by reducing altitude gain from the more than 52,000 meters of 2025 to 49,150 meters next year. And the summit finish on the queen stage, stage 19 (5,000 m of elevation), while very steep, is only a category 2 climb (5 km at ~10%).<\/p>\n

Now, this is not as drastic a climbing reduction as in 2024, when organisers laid out only 42,900 meters of elevation to tempt Poga\u010dar to ride the race without impairing his chances for the Giro-Tour double. (He rode and he doubled.) But the idea is the same. Will Vingegaard go for it and sacrifice what may be one of his last realistic chances to win the Tour (he\u2019ll be 30 in 2027)? We\u2019ll see. And what about Evenepoel? Organisers have included a flat 40.2 km time trial that fits him like a tailored suit. And he has a bone to pick with the race, having crashed out in 2021 and abandoning again in 2023 after testing positive for Covid while leading the race.<\/p>\n

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Zobrazit p\u0159\u00edsp\u011bvek na Instagramu<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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P\u0159\u00edsp\u011bvek sd\u00edlen\u00fd Giro d’Italia (@giroditalia)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n