After the Grande Partenza, there are three more stages in the Balkan country. The first rest day – essentially a transfer day – comes early, on Monday, 12 May.
Stage 1 is a hilly race of 164 kilometres with 1,800 metres of climbing. Stage 2 is an individual time trial of 13.7 kilometres with a short climb halfway through. Stage 3 includes 2,800 metres of climbing over a 160-kilometre course.
The Giro is bank in Italy for the 4th stage, which is an opportunity for the sprinters in Lecce. Stage 5 is less flat but still offers a good chance for the tougher fast men.
Stage 6 takes the pink caravan to Naples. After a challenging opening section, the last 70 kilometres are mostly flat. Stage 7 is a tough climbing stage, with a final ascent of 12.6 kilometres that gets brutally steep near the top.
Stage 8 serves up more of the same, but the route is slightly less demanding, and the finish isn’t uphill. Which is not the case in the 9th stage, a Strade Bianche-ish race with finish at the Piazza del Campo in Siena, the iconic ending of the race on white roads through Tuscany. So, a brutally steep finale awaits, plus five sterrati sections in the last 70 kilometres.
Week 2
The second week kicks off with an individual time trial of 28.6 kilometres. Apart from a slightly uphill stretch halfway through, the course is entirely flat. Stage 11, on the other hand, is a gruelling hilly stage with plenty of double-digit gradients.
Stage 12 serves up hills in the first half beore a flat second half. Stage 13 starts out on the flat, but finishes on the punchy Monte Berico in Vicenza. The latter part of stage 14 – a detour into Slovenia – isn’t completely flat either, though the sprinters are not expected to be too bothered by it.
Stage 15 serves up a huge climb, the Monte Grappa, but the riders can take some solace in the fact that it comes relatively early. However, a 16.3-kilometre ascent at 5.5%, with the summit just under 20 kilometres from the finish, might cause a bit more drama, possibly in the ranks of the breakaway.
Week 3
The final week opens with a beast of a mountain stage. Stage 16 features five climbs and nearly 5,000 metres of elevation gain, with the final ascent stretching 17.4 kilometres at an average of 6.4%. Stage 17 spices things up with the Mortirolo in the pre-finale, before finishing downhill in Bormio.
Stage 18 offers the fast men a rare chance to shine, despite a hilly middle section. Stage 19, on the other hand, wraps up after five climbs with a short descent to the finish line in the Monte Rosa mountains, the second largest massif in Europe.
The penultimate stage heads to Sestrière, with the steep and unpaved Colle delle Finestre leading up to the final charge. Much of the route overlaps with the one where Froome staged his incredible comeback in 2018 to win the Giro.
The final stage of the Corsa Rosa ends with a flat criterium in Rome.
Giro d’Italia 2025: routes, profiles, more
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