Cycling
Get Giro d'Italia ready: The 2025 route, riders and how to follow the race
The Giro d’Italia is back! Who will conquer the 2025 race for the maglia rosa? Big names, bold moves and surprises await in cycling's ultimate showdown.
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The Giro d'Italia, the first of 2025's three Grand Tours returns for it's 108th edition this year from May 9 to June 1. Starting in Durres, Albania, and finishing in the centre of Rome, the world's best cyclists will compete for the iconic maglia rosa over three weeks on a route of 3,413.3km that will take them through breathtaking landscapes, over legendary climbs and inside historic cities in what promises to be a particularly demanding edition boasting no less than 52,500m of total elevation gain. Here's everything you need to know to get ready for the start of arguably the toughest Grand Tour of them all.
Primož Roglič is a race and fan favourite
© RCS Sports & Events/Red Bull Content Pool
01
The Giro d'Italia 2025 route: balancing novelty and tradition
As how now become traditional, the 2025 edition of the Giro d'Italia will start outside Italy's border's for the 15th time. This year, the first three stages will be raced for the first time in Albania, a short hop across the Adriatic Sea southern Italy, before returning to the mainland. In fact, the Giro will cross no fewer than 15 Italian regions and three other states – Albania, Slovenia and the Vatican City – before finishing in the majestic setting of Rome, which will host the finish for the seventh time.
The map of the Giro d'Italia 2025
© RCS Sport
Adding to the renowned toughness of the Giro, this year's route features a significant 10,000m more elevation gain than the 2024 edition that was dominated by Tadej Pogačar, who last year achieved the Giro-Tour double for the first time since 1998 and won the World Championships gold medal. The 2025 peloton will face two individual time trials with a total of 42.3km; six stages for the sprinters, eight intermediate mountain stages and five punishing high mountain stages.
Take a look at the full overview of the 21 individual Giro d'Italia stages below:
Date
Stage
Route and distance
Altitude gain
Difficulty
Friday, May 9
1
Durazzo - Tirana (164km)
1,800m
***
Saturday, May 10
2
Tirana - Tirana (13,7km)
150m
*
Sunday, May 11
3
Valona - Valona (160km)
2,800 m
***
Monday, May 12
Rest Day
Tuesday, May 13
4
Alberobello - Lecce (187km)
800m
*
Wednesday, May 14
5
Ceglie Messapica - Matera (145km)
1,250m
**
Thursday, May 15
6
Potenza - Napoli (211km)
1,600m
**
Friday, May 16
7
Castel di Sangro - Tagliacozzo (166km)
3,400m
****
Saturday, May 17
8
Giulianova - Castelraimondo (193km)
3,700m
***
Sunday, May 18
9
Gubbio - Siena (181km)
2,500m
***
Monday, May 19
Rest Day
Tuesday, May 20
10
Lucca - Pisa (28,6km)
150m
****
Wednesday, May 21
11
Viareggio - Castelnovo Ne' Monti (185km)
3,850m
***
Thursday, May 22
12
Modena - Viadana (181km)
1,750m
**
Friday, May 23
13
Rovigo - Vicenza (186km)
1,650m
**
Saturday, May 24
14
Treviso - Gorizia (186km)
1,100m
**
Sunday, May 25
15
Fiume Veneto - Asiago (210km)
3,900m
****
Monday, May 26
Rest Day
Tuesday, May 27
16
Piazzola sul Brenta - San Valentino (199km)
4,800m
*****
Wednesday, May 28
17
San Michele all'Adige - Bormio (154km)
3,800m
***
Thursday, May 29
18
Morbegno - Cesano Maderno (146km)
1,450m
**
Friday, May 30
19
Biella - Champoluc (157km)
4,700m
*****
Saturday, May 31
20
Verrès - Sestrière (203km)
4,500m
*****
Sunday, June 1
21
Roma - Roma (141km)
600m
*
All aboard for Albania
Three demanding stages - including an individual time trial through the streets of capital city Tirana - are the Albanian appetiser for the Giro d'Italia 2025. A demanding first stage finishes in the capital with two hard-fought climbs that reach double-digit gradients in places, while the time trial will be followed by the Valona loop stage that features the ascent of Qafa and Llogarasë, the first point above 1,000m in this year's Corsa Rosa.
Week 1 highlights: Sprints and Strade Bianche gravel
After the first rest day on Monday, May 12, that allows the peloton to cross the Adriatic and into Italy, the race resumes with three stages that look well suited to sprint finishes – although not necessarily big bunch sprints. Riders will head go up the Adriatic peninsula with the first uphill finish on Stage 7 in the Abruzzo region in Tagliacozzo. Then, after the climbing-laden road to Castelraimondo on Stage 8, there's the Gubbio-Siena Stage 9 that will feature with five sectors of the famed white gravel roads from the Strade Bianche one day race before finishing in Siena's Piazza del Campo. After an increasingly testing week, this stage could cause fireworks in the General Classification battle.
Week 2 highlights: Time trialling and a classic climb returns
After the second rest day, Stage 10 kicks-off week two of racing with the 28.6 time trial from Lucca to Pisa, a modern re-run of the 1977 time trial won by Knut Knudsen. The following day sees the return of the climb to San Pellegrino in Alpe after 25 years, riding ramps of up to 20 percent on the Category 1 climb, before finishing in Castelnovo ne' Monti.
Three intermediate but complicated stages follow: a likely sprint stage between Modena and Viadana; the stage from Rovigo to Vicenza that's almost completely flat until the peloton reaches the finish town, where two laps of steep, hilly circuit await that finishes on wall-like Monte Berico; and finally Nova Gorica – Gorizia with its cross-border circuit. The week ends with Stage 15 to Asiago, which features 3,900m of climbing that includes a mid-stage climb of the famed Category 1 Monte Grappa.
The first week has plenty to test Roglič and the rest of the peloton
© RCS Sports & Events/Red Bull Content Pool
Week 3 highlights: Monstrous mountains and more gravel
After the final rest day comes the toughest day's climbing in the entire 2025 Giro d'Italia – 4,900m on Stage 16 across five tough, consecutive climbs in the Trentino region (three of which are Category 1) and an uphill finish in San Valentino on Monte Baldo, overlooking Lake Garda. A pure climber's day, this could be a decisive stage for the GC battle.
Stage 17 to Bormio includes another classic Giro climb, the Mortirolo pass, and a steady uphill run to the finish that could catch out any GC contenders not on their guard, while Stage 18 to Cesano Maderno gives the GC contenders a break and is likely to be the final sprint stage of the race. The next two days before the final ride into Rome are brutal by anyone's standards however and will decide the GC in spectacular fashion.
The first, Stage 19 from Biella to Champoluc, is short at 166km, but packs in a gruelling 4,950m of climbing at high altitude on a day where riders will be either pointing up or down from start to finish. Stage 20, from Verrès to Sestrière, is not only long at 203km, but again tops 4,500m of climbing and boasts the 2025 race's highest point – the Cima Coppi – on the fearsome Colle delle Finestre with its 8km of nine percent gravel road before the final climb into Sestrière. Finally, after three weeks in the saddle, Stage 21, the ceremonial ride into Rome will see the 2025 Giro d'Italia winner crowned in the Eternal City. Whoever wins, the will certainly have earned it.
02
The Giro d'Italia 2025 contenders
The Giro d’Italia is shaping up to be a battle between generations. Cycling legend Primož Roglič, leader of Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe team is back and chasing a second maglia rosa, while young star Juan Ayuso is looking to take the crown for himself. Roglič won the Giro in 2023 and is aiming to repeat victory but will be a tough challenge to face. The two have already traded blows this season – most recently in Catalunya, where Roglič pulled off a late attack to take the win. But with a stacked start list, could another contender steal the spotlight and shake up the expected showdown?
Primož Roglič know what it takes to wear pink
© Maximilian Fries/Red Bull Content Pool
I had no choice, I had to try. I train exactly for this kind of moment. Youngsters like Ayuso force us to raise the bar to stay competitive
The Roglič–Ayuso confrontation is a generational one that's destined to characterise this Giro d'Italia, which will see battle-hardened Grand Tour veterans having to fight to maintain their dominance over an up and coming new generation of riders hungry for success. It would be reductionist to imagine the 2025 Giro d'Italia as a two-man scrap however. For a start Ayuso will have another hugely experienced contender in his own team in Italy, Britain's Adam Yates, a rider who's more than capable of riding himself into maglia rosa contention on the hardest days of the race.
Other former Giro winners to watch out for in the GC battle include the Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz of EF Education EasyPost, champion in 2019, and the resurgent Colombian Egan Bernal of Ineos Grenadiers, who dominated in 2021. Spain's Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick Step) and Frenchmen Romain Bardet (Picnic PostNL) and David Gaudu (Groupama FDJ) could also be contention. Two more riders who'll almost certainly create headlines in Italy are the two-time Olympic mountain bike champion and 2020 'Baby Giro' winner Tom Pidcock (Q36.5), who could be a real dark horse for the overall, and Belgian great Wout van Aert (Visma Lease a Bike), who's many people's pick to win the opening stage and be first to wear the maglia rosa and has the all round capabilities to light up every stage.
Wout van Aert always turns up on form for the Grand Tours
© Kristof Ramon/Red Bull Content Pool
Tom Pidcock makes his Grand Tour debut for his new team in Italy
© Bartek Wolinski/Red Bull Content Pool
03
The teams: Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe packed with Italian talent
The 2025 Grand Tours Giro d'Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta a España will feature one more team than previously: 23 instead of 22 and 184 riders at the start instead of 176. The International Cycling Union (UCI) has given the go-ahead to the proposal submitted by the Professional Cycling Council, created primarily to support second-division teams. With this in mind, the Giro d'Italia granted wild cards to Italian teams Polti Visit Malta and VF Group Bardiani CSF Faizanè along with Swiss teams Q36.5 and Tudor.
Among the 18 World Tour teams competing in the Giro d'Italia 2025, Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe is fielding a top-level line-up, led by road captain Primož Roglič. The former champion will be flanked by experienced and talented riders including Australian Jai Hindley, winner of the 2022 Giro, and Colombian climbing talent Daniel Felipe Martínez, runner-up in the 2024 edition.
Matteo Sobrero is one of the team's home Italian heroes
© Sebastian Marko/Red Bull Content Pool
Jai Hindley is the team's second Giro d’Italia champion
© RCS Sports & Events/Red Bull Content Pool
While the official team roster hasn't be finalised just yet, it can be assumed that the German team will be able to count on a strong Italian contingent, with Giovanni Aleotti, Gianni Moscon and Matteo Sobrero aiming carry the Italian tricolor as high as possible. On paper, Slovenian Jan Tratnik and Dane Frederik Wandahl should complete the team's roster, ready to support the captain in the most demanding stages.
04
Giro d'Italia jerseys and classifications: what you need to know
As is tradition, the Giro d'Italia 2025 will award four distinctive jerseys to the leaders of the different classifications at the end of each day's racing. They are:
- Maglia Rosa (pink) – The iconic jersey of the Giro D'Italia, it's awarded to the leader of the general classification by time.
- Maglia Ciclamino (purple) – Assigned to the leader of the points classification, usually a sprinter.
- Maglia Azzurra (blue) – Worn by the leader of the mountain classification rewarding the race's best climbers.
- Maglia Bianca (white) – Reserved for the best rider under 25 years of age in the general classification.
It takes a team to win...
© RCS Sports & Events/Red Bull Content Pool
At the end of each stage, bonuses of 10, six and four seconds are awarded to the first three finishers, as well as three, two and one seconds in the intermediate sprints, making each stage decisive for the general classification. There will also be some really interesting new features for the big sprint stage finishes, which will be revealed shortly, so stay tuned for that news.
With such a demanding route, top-level teams and the presence of numerous previous champions, the Giro d'Italia 2025 promises to be a record edition. The 3,413km between Durres and Rome will be the scene of an epic battle, where strategy, strength and endurance will determine who will have the honour of wearing the maglia rosa in Rome. Don't miss this race!
05
What is the Red Bull KM?
19 of the 21 stages of this years Giro d'Italia, will feature a Red Bull-branded kilometre. The Giro d'Italia will kick-off on May 9 and finish on June 1. The Red Bull KM will serve as the 'gateway' to the only intermediate sprint that counts towards the general classification; the first three riders to cross the exit gate of the kilometre will earn time bonuses of six, four, and two seconds respectively.
The Red Bull KM has made its Giro d'Italia debut
© RCS Sports & Events/Red Bull Content Pool
Since the Red Bull KM will be the only intermediate point of the race awarding bonus seconds for the overall standings – alongside the stage finish, where the winner gets a 10-second bonus – and will ignite fierce battles within the peloton.
The Red Bull KM will have a real effect on the hunt for the pink jersey. Featured in every sprint stage, the Red Bull KM will intensify the battle for the lead all the way to the grand finale in Rome.
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