CYCLING – FOR professional cycling fans, the start of May means but one thing: the first ‘Grand Tour’ of the season, The Giro d’Italia. Friday sees the start of the 108th edition of the event dubbed ‘the world’s toughest race, in the world’s most beautiful place’.
Since the team’s inception in 2017, Bahrain Victorious have enjoyed considerable success at the Giro, winning eight stages in eight participations. In addition, the team has been on the GC podium four times, won the points classification in 2023, and the youth classification 12 months ago, making La Corsa Rosa comfortably our most successful of the three Grand Tours.
In 2024 it was Antonio Tiberi, making his debut on home roads, who took the white jersey for the best young rider. The 23-year-old held the jersey from stage 11 until Rome with a combination of tenacity and audacity, and it will be Tiberi who leads Bahrain over the upcoming three weeks. As he was last year, Gorazd Štangelj is lead sports director and is clear about the team’s focus.
“We have one clear objective: Antonio for the GC to try to make it onto the podium. He is the one and only leader of the team, and if everything goes as we would like or as we are planning, then yes, full focus on this.
“Antonio’s biggest, let’s say, challenge are the two time trials where we would like to gain some time. Then it’s the last few days, especially stages 19 and 20, where we expect the biggest battle. Probably he will be mostly on here his own against other GC riders to show the quality.”
Tiberi himself seems undaunted by the responsibility on his young shoulders, and is excited to start his home Grand Tour for a second time in the coming days.
“I’m definitely very, very happy to participate in the Giro d’Italia again and I can’t wait to start. These days I’ve been working really well, and the legs seem good, so let’s go! Damiano [Caruso] and I work well together, so let’s see how the sensations are in the race. I can’t wait to leave and try to do my best.”
This year the ‘Grande Partenza’ will take place outside Italian territory for a 15th time, dating back to 1965 when the 81 starters set out from San Marino. In 2025, the host nation is Albania, where the riders will contest three stages. The first and third – both 160km – have been classified as ‘Medium Mountain’ stages, with some climbing, but where almost anything is possible. That could be early skirmishes in the GC, breakaways seizing the day, or sprinters’ teams trying to take control. Sandwiched between them is a 13.7km individual time trial in the capital city of Tirana. It is mostly flat but does have a short climb (1.4km, 5 per cent average gradient) in the middle.
It is the first of two tests against the clock, the second of which comes in Tuscany on stage 10. Once again it is relatively flat with a short incline midway through the 28.6km between Lucca and Pisa. Although neither ITT appears challenging or long enough to make a significant impression on the overall standings, Štangelj believes they could still be important.
“Every stage can be GC stage. There are two time trials where we hope to gain some time on other GC contenders, and plenty of stages where our objective is just not to lose time. The biggest aim is actually before we even get to the start … to arrive healthy and stay healthy! That’s our biggest objective at the moment, and then yes, gain time on GC contenders during the time trials.
“The race itself is quite traditional I would say. It’s always chaotic at the beginning, especially with the start in Albania – we don’t know what is coming. It’s too early panic but to approach it with some caution is probably not a bad thing. When we arrive we will go to see stage 1, or at least the closing parts, and the time trial. Stage 3 is a bit more complicated to get to know the roads, so we will rely more on street view, etc.”
The Albanian portion of Giro 108 concludes in the coastal town of Vlorë, from where it’s a relatively short boat trip to the ‘heel’ of Italy, venue for stages 4 and 5, before stage 6 sees a finish in Naples for the fourth consecutive year. All three are classed as ‘low difficulty’, but each has its own nuances. The first day on the mainland should be one for the pure sprinters; 189km from Alberobello to Lecce. That is followed by a shorter but hillier route from Ceglie Messapica. The last third of the 145km is almost all uphill, and ends with a rise to the hilltop city of Matera. Thursday’s arrival in Naples means a switch to the western coast, and at 227km, is the longest of the 21 stages. The road from Potenza includes over 2,500m of elevation gain, but all in the first 150km. After that it’s a pan flat run to the capital of Campania.
The Giro usually features a wide variety of stage profiles, and 2025 is no exception, with the toughest mountains concentrated in the third week. But the first time the climbers will get to test their legs comes on stage 7, which contains three categorised climbs before a summit finish at Tagliacozzo (12.6km, 5.4 pc). The climb has never featured in the race before, and gets progressively steeper as it unfolds.
In the high mountains Tiberi will have the support of three expert climbers: Damiano Caruso who was runner up here in 2021, brings a wealth of experience and has shown impressive form in recent weeks. He is joined by another Italian, 24-year-old Edoardo Zambanini, on the startlist for the third consecutive year, and double stage winner in 2019, Pello Bilbao. Štangelj says that every rider has a clearly defined role.
“We have a really balanced team, with mountain support, mid mountain support; we are covered everywhere. We also have riders who we can count on when we need someone in the breakaway or even winning from a breakaway.
“Damiano is road captain, and the shadow of Antonio during all the race. He also has some personal objectives to join some breaks and try for a stage win. If there is going to be the space for it, we hope for it. So this is his goal.
“Pello’s role is similar to Damiano, he will shadow Antonio as mountain support for him, and he will also have the chances to fight for the stage win. Especially the gravel one where he’s normally good on Strade Bianche and he points out this stage that he will like a lot.”
The stage to which he refers is on Sunday, and could be one of this year’s pivotal race days. The road from Gubbio to Siena includes 28.9km of the white roads that give ‘Strade Bianche’ its name.
It’s a surface on which Bilbao loves to ride, having finished top ten on all four occasions he has started at the Italian spring classic. There are five gravel sectors, four of which were part of the 2024 Strade Bianche route. The same is true of the closing kilometres, including the explosive final climb up the renowned Via Santa Caterina in Siena.
The previous day the peloton will have completed 197km in the Appenines, starting from Giulianova and ending in Castelraimondo – a finish previously seen in Tirreno-Adriatico. It is an archetypal Giro stage with plenty of climbs throughout, offering hope to breakaway specialists and tempting the GC contenders into action.
But we expect many in the peloton to keep their powder dry for those crucial gravel tracks to come before the first rest day.
Both stages 8 and 9 are ‘medium mountains’, and Štangelj introduces two members of the team who were selected for those days.
“Edoardo is mid-mountain support, and one of the fastest riders we have in the team. He also showed us a few stages where he would like to have the freedom to play his cards and again, hopefully we can give him this.
“Fran Miholjevic will be flat and mid mountain support and he’s really a master of positioning people at the crucial time, crosswinds and so on. Antonio and other guys really trust him and he’s good at moving in the peloton. So we are very happy to have such a support rider on the team roster, and Fran hopefully can have some personal team chances and cards to play too.”
After the Tuscan Time Trial that opens week two, the fight for the pink jersey and the ‘Trofeo Senza Fine’ continues its journey north, with an unpredictable 11th stage from Viareggio to Castelnuovo Ne Monti. Halfway through the 186km comes the first category ‘San Pellegrino in Alpe’ which is over 14 kilometres long at 8 pc. Last raced 25 years ago in Giro, it has gradients hitting 20 pc and is one of this year’s most punishing climbs.
Thursday is an opportunity for sprinters. The 172km from Modena to Viadana does have three categorised hills, but the last 80km are completely flat. With a clear GC target, these stages are not a goal for the Bahrain team, but should the occasion present itself, Štangelj says they will be ready.
Stage 13 is 180 fairly straightforward kilometres from Rovigo to Vicenza. The bunch will have to go over the famous Monte Berico, before completing two laps of a 20.3km circuit which includes a second pass of Monte Berico, before an uphill final kilometre averaging 7 pc.
The weekend starts with another flat stage, through the ‘Veneto Plain’ from Treviso. The last 46km are across the border in Slovenia, with three small climbs before a predicted bunch sprint in Nova Gorica.
With 14 stages completed, riders will be looking forward to another rest day, but the route designers are making them earn it. On Sunday they will have to take on their second day in the ‘high mountains’. It’s a 214km ride from Fiume Veneto, with the arduous Monte Grappa taking prominence. A total of nearly 4,000 vertical metres makes this a bona fide test for the climbers, with the finish in Asiago a copy of 2017’s penultimate stage, which saw a thrilling GC battle. The Giro directors will be hoping for the same again.
The blend of experience and youth that has characterised the Bahrain team this season is epitomised by the final member of the line up for this year’s Giro. 23-year-old Afonso Eulálio from Portugal is in his first season on the World Tour, but has already ridden five stage races, as well as Strade Bianche. He is a rider with great potential, and Štangelj believes he will not only learn a great deal on his first grand tour, but can also be a valuable asset over the next three weeks.
The total distance of the 2025 Giro is 3,443.3km, split into 21 stages. Six are designated as ‘low difficulty’, eight medium, and five in the high mountains, four of which come in the last seven days. The final week in Italy is always fiendishly hard, and will be once again, as the peloton will face the steep slopes of mythical climbs such as Passo Mortirolo and Colle delle Finestre.
Štangelj rode the Giro himself ten times between 1999 and 2011, and understands what lies in wait in week three.
“The last week is the brutal one – that’s when we’ll see if the jersey is on the right rider’s shoulders or if it will change hands. That’s where the winner of the race will be decided. I would say especially stages 19 & 20 look particularly tough, and as long as the weather doesn’t make it necessary to change the planned route we can look forward to a big fight there.”
The closing week starts with a vicious 16th stage. Five significant climbs and a summit finish at San Valentino, 17 kilometres long at 6.5 pc will reveal who has recovered well from two weeks of hard racing, and who has enough left to fight for glory in Rome. It’s a day for the pure climbers, and will carry a lot of weight in the final reckoning for the fabled ‘Maglia Rosa’.
Wednesday’s 155km route from San Michele All-Adige to Bormio has two big name headliners: the Passo del Tonale (15.1km, 6.1 pc) and the Mortirolo (12km, 7.6 pc). The last 33.5km is on rolling roads to the arrival in Bormio.
Following that savage start to the final week, stage 18 gives the climbers something of an easier day in the saddle, as the sprinters have another chance to shine. A flat start in Morbegno opens the 144km route to Cesano Maderno. There will be a big fight to get in a strong breakaway, and whether they make it will most likely be determined on the two laps of a 12.5km finishing circuit.
Stages 19 and 20 could well be where this year’s Giro champion is decided. Friday’s high mountains in the Val d’Aosta will present 4,950 metres of elevation gain across 166 km. There are five major climbs between Biella and Champoluc.
Bahrain Victorious are full of confidence following an excellent set of recent results in Romandie, Paris-Nice, Tour of the Alps and Tirreno-Adriatico. With an impressive Giro record, and a singular objective to support our leader Antonio Tiberi, the team is looking forward to achieving the best possible results in Italy between Friday 9th May and Sunday 1st June.
The final word goes to our leader for this month in Italy, Antonio Tiberi, who has high, but realistic, hopes for these three weeks riding in front of his home fans whose support he values so much:
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