Tirreno-Adriatico 2025: GC Favourites

[The text below was written before the start of Tirreno-Adriatico and has not been updated]

The race kicks off with a flat individual time trial. Last year, Ayuso took the win on a similar course, and there’s a good chance the Spaniard will want to put down a marker from the start again. His main goal this season is the Giro, and racing on Italian roads could give him a confidence boost. He’s already started his season strong with a dominant solo victory at the Faun Drome Classic.

After the opening time trial, the race continues with a stage suited to the fast men, followed by stage 3, which looks inviting for either attackers or powerful sprinters. For GC riders, there’s not much to gain in the longest stage of this edition. The same goes for stage 4 – it starts in the mountains but finishes on flat terrain.

Stage 5 is a gruelling hilly race. The route constantly goes up and down before it reaches its zenith with two climbs in the final 25 kilometres. With 3,500 metres of climbing, it’s certainly no walk in the park, though it’s questionable whether GC contenders can make a difference on this kind of terrain.

The penultimate stage features a similar amount of climbing, but the summit finish makes it a different story altogether. The finish climb to Frontignano is 7.7 kilometres long, while the average gradient sits at 7.8%.

Whoever takes the leader’s jersey in Frontignano will win Tirreno-Adriatico, as the final stage is completely flat.

Last year, Jonas Vingegaard took the overall victory, finishing nearly a minute and a half ahead of Juan Ayuso, with Jai Hindley completing the podium.

Simon Yates, Michał Kwiatkowski, and Nairo Quintana are the only former winners on the start line. They won Tirreno in 2020, 2018, and 2017, respectively.

Favourites 2025 Tirreno-Adriatico

***** Juan Ayuso, Adam Yates
**** Antonio Tiberi, Richard Carapaz, Simon Yates
*** David Gaudu, Derek Gee, Giulio Ciccone, Ben Healy
** Tom Pidcock, Laurens De Plus, Jai Hindley, Mikel Landa
* Pello Bilbao, Isaac del Toro, Cian Uijtdebroeks, Romain Grégoire