Giro 2025 Favourites stage 3: Breakaway day

foto: Cor VosIs that right? Will it be a day for the breakaway? Hard to tell in advance, but we expect Lidl-Trek to throw everything at reclaiming the maglia rosa, while race leader Primoz Roglic is likely to sit back and let them do the work. (Slideshow route/profile)

After all, the Giro is a long race, and we’re only three days in. So overall leader Primoz Roglic is unlikely to mind too much when Lidl-Trek tries to unfold its dream scenario, with both second- and third-placed riders, Pedersen and Vacek, in the breakaway. And it’s not that far-fetched. Both are punchy enough to make the jump — just like Van Aert. None of the three pose a real threat to the GC contenders, but they’d all love to take the pink jersey — and of course, bag a stage win while they’re at it.

The route takes in 2,800 metres of elevation. The first 60 kilometres are a constant up-and-down, with a series of short kickers, before the road rises for 5.3 kilometres at 4.2%. The first half of that climb is by far the steepest.

After the descent, the terrain stays much the same – up and down, sometimes steep – until a long ascent is likely to shatter the breakaway. And if any team wants to bring the attackers back, this is the place to get the chase going. The Qafa e Lologarasë is a steady climb: 10.5 kilometres long at an average gradient of 7.4%. The final 20 kilometres after the descent are flat.

That Qafa e Llogarasë climb could well be the bottleneck, where riders like Pedersen and Van Aert may struggle against stronger climbers. But then again, there’ll still be plenty of time to make up for any losses. Much will depend on the composition of the groups of chasers and those being chased. That is, if it even comes to that — because it’s just as likely we’ll see a bunch sprint in Vlorë, with Pedersen reclaiming the pink jersey that way.

Favourites 3rd stage 2025 Giro d’Italia

*** Georg Steinhauser, Koen Bouwman, Filippo Zana
** Mads Pedersen, Wout van Aert, Mathias Vacek
* Marco Frigo, Davide Formolo, Florian Stork, Gijs Leemreize

Another interesting read: route 3rd stage 2025 Giro.