Cycling
Giro d’Italia 2025: Tactics to watch as Roglič chases the pink jersey
Primož Roglič and Red Bull - BORA – hansgrohe look strong for Giro 2025 – but rivals have a tactical plan to stop them. A team strategist breaks it down.
As the 2025 Giro d’Italia gets underway, all eyes are on Primož Roglič of Red Bull - BORA – hansgrohe, but being the favourite doesn't just bring pressure – it also gives your team the power to shape the race. That’s the view of cycling strategist Patrick Broe, who works for Visma | Lease a Bike, one of Roglič’s main rivals, and is well known from the Lanterne Rouge podcast. Speaking on the Just Ride podcast, Broe explained that the favourite often ends up controlling the rhythm of the key mountain stages. “When you’re the favourite, you and your team kind of dictate how the climbing stages go,” he said.
Vuelta Catalunya Stage 1
© Maximilian Fries
That influence, Broe believes, means other general classification (GC) teams will start the race by watching and reacting – letting Roglič’s squad set the early tone.
Red Bull BORA-hansgrohe team training in Mallorca
© Sebastian Marko/Red Bull Content Pool
“For a lot of the stages, it would be for our GC leader just, yeah, follow BORA – especially for the first week,” Broe said. “You don’t really know who’s been sick or how riders are feeling until that first real uphill finish. And then there’s no hiding anymore.”
After the first climb, there's no hiding anymore
According to Broe, the first decisive climb will reveal important insights – and which riders and teams are really in top shape. "Then you can see, OK, he's in bad shape, he's flying. That team looks terrible. They can't control the race," says Broe. "Then you can start to decide what to do more concretely."
For Red Bull – BORA - hansgrohe, Baer expects that Roglič’s team will be looking ahead to stages where they can go on the attack. “They would be deciding, OK, what’s a good stage where we can try and take time with Roglič? What stage suits him? How should we pace that stage with the team we have?”
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Colle delle Finestre: the big show stopper at the end of the race
But it’s not just the riders shaping this year’s Giro – it’s the route itself. Broe points out that the 2025 edition breaks from tradition in ways that could change how the race unfolds. With fewer long mountain finishes and no high-altitude climbs, he believes tactical thinking may matter more than raw climbing power. “It's actually a very non-typical Giro route this year. Not many long mountain top finishes, some shorter climbs. They don't go to high altitude,” he said.
Broe believes it will be a tactical race until the riders get to the Colle delle Finestre on stage 20 - already a legendary climb. "Chris Froome won the Giro here in 2018 basically when he dropped Tom Dumoulin at the start of the stage," Broe looks back. "It's 20km, nine percent gravel for the last half of it and it's a crazy climb." Broe expects the Giro d'Italia to be decided here: "That's the big show stopper at the end of the race, where we'll see who's going to win."
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How Primož Roglič’s rivals plan to shadow the favourite
The first week has plenty to challenge Roglič and the peloton
© Kristof Ramon/Red Bull Content Pool
Another key feature shaping this year’s Giro is the introduction of the Red Bull Kilometre – a new intermediate sprint format that could play a major role in the general classification battle. On 19 of the 21 stages, riders will race through a 1km section leading into a single intermediate sprint, with the first three across the line earning bonus seconds: six, four and two. These are the only intermediate time bonuses on offer, alongside the 10, six and four seconds available at the finish line.
Broe believes this new element could have a big impact – especially for a rider like Roglič. “These bonus seconds are really important,” he said. “Primož Roglič actually won a whole Vuelta a España just on bonus seconds, because he's really explosive and good in time trials. And then he just followed the rest of the stages. Maybe that's BORA’s strategy again.”
After yet another Vuelta success, Roglič aims for Giro and Tour
© Kristof Ramon/Red Bull Content Pool
The Red Bull Kilometre could turn into a tactical battleground, depending on the terrain, Broe believes. “You'll see riders, if it's uphill, the general classification guys like Roglič and Juan Ayuso sprinting. If it's flat, it's not realistic someone like Simon Yates is going to beat Roglič in a sprint,” he explained.
In those cases, teams like Visma may send a strong team-mate to contest the sprint – not to gain time, but to take precious seconds away from rivals. “You can actually send a team-mate who is a sprinter to sprint against those guys to take away the seconds – to protect your GC leader.”
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Lanterne Rouge – a cycling podcast
Hosted by Patrick Broe and Benji Naesen, Lanterne Rouge takes its name from the traditional term for the last-place finisher in the Tour de France – a self-deprecating nod to the sport’s culture. The podcast is known for its in-depth daily race recaps, including for the Giro d’Italia 2025, which are live-streamed on YouTube immediately after each stage, offering timely analysis and insights throughout major cycling events. Broe is also the Head of Strategy at the World Tour team Team Visma | Lease a Bike, advising on race strategy, selections and scouting.
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Follow Just Ride for more road-cycling insights and bike stories
Don’t miss upcoming episodes of the Just Ride podcast, featuring exclusive conversations with top riders and personalities from across cycling. On May 15, Giro contender Jai Hindley joins to talk all things Giro, and on May 20, downhill star Bernard Kerr recaps Crankworx Australia and more in a wide-ranging episode. Follow Just Ride wherever you get your podcasts.