Giro d'Italia Giro d’Italia 2025: Post-Race Rating Poll

[Red Rick]

7, but much closer to a 8 than a 6. Best Giro since 2020 and a big step in the right direction after three horrible editions.

+ The best stages were pretty stellar (as was likely given the route)
+ There were probably 5 different riders who could all claim to be the biggest favourite at some point in the race, very few GTs have had that many twists
+ Racing was fairly aggressive throughout, only stage 3 and 19 underwhelmed a bit in this regard
+ Almost every stage from the first MTF onwards was entertaining (as was also likely given the route)
+ No aliens making a mockery of the race

- Not enough GC days in the first two weeks (as was also likely given the route)
- First six days were very slow
- Above average amount of big-name GC riders crashing out
- Zero tension for all three minor classifications

It was a pretty good Giro overall, somewhat reminiscent of (but also a bit weaker than) the 2020 edition. Makes for a good argument for quality over quantity (when ignoring routes that have both) in terms of GC stages because let's face it, it's highly unlikely that this race has as much drama on a stereotypical Vuelta route with 10 functionally unipuerto uphill finishes and not much else. The Finestre stage alone was worth all 10 of such stages combined for me.

To be honest, in it's own way Finestre stages are usully unipuerto in that nothing ever happens before and fatigue is pretty low before hitting the base, and in this case the race was decided and locked pretty soon after the top. Not that it negates Sestriere though, it's just a different sort of resolution that's pretty surreal this time.

And as for quality versus quantity, to me it's basically asking if you want lower or higher variance. More good mountain stages makes it actually pretty likely Finestre is as good it was.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

7

Finestre stage really saved this race and upped my mark by at least 2. Before it was rather poor with some flashes (i.e. mini Strade Bianche stage).

 

[dazaau]

I went out on a limb and voted 9. People on here seem quite wedded to their pre existing views of the course / race and perhaps also just have high expectations that are never met as these threads always seem to struggle to get high scores.

I didn't like Roglic crashing out, but at the end of the day that and other factors made this the most entertaining/close Giro in ages.

The first two weeks were actually interesting, lots of action (including gc action for good or bad) and very few flat boring sprint stages (which I have no time for) and the GC was close from start to finish and no one knew who would win. The last week also really delivered.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

5. Perfect example of 2011 Tour disease, where a great finale causes people to forget two weeks of absolute nothing where two weeks in people were wondering when the actual racing would start. Recency bias is strong, remembering the otherwise pretty good 2019 Tour being downvoted because of a lame finale caused by the weather as well. But stages 16 and 20 were truly great.

 

[Rou]

I gave it a 3.
I'm not falling for the recency bias after stage 20. I don't like a Grand Tour without a proper GC stage for the first two weeks.

 

[Red Rick]

5. Perfect example of 2011 Tour disease, where a great finale causes people to forget two weeks of absolute nothing where two weeks in people were wondering when the actual racing would start. Recency bias is strong, remembering the otherwise pretty good 2019 Tour being downvoted because of a lame finale caused by the weather as well. But stages 16 and 20 were truly great.

Crash derby the first 10 days? One of the favorites getting critizied for not doing enough? One brother being useless to the other? Winner being a redemption story? and about 4 riders looking like possibly winning it over the course of the race? The similarities are endless.

In reality, that Tour had even less in the first 10 days, and people are still mad about the Pyrenees being so ***. But then the she speculative stages like Pinerolo and Gap were much better than Bormio and Champoluc in this one in the third week.

In addition, Serre Chevalier and Alpe d'Huez were both better stages than Finestre, the resulotion just happeend to only be there for people who like really akward Australian men with a Kermit the Frog voice.

 

[Roku]

I give it a 3. Can't give much more due to a poor race design and route. First two weeks were rather poor and there were stages with potential to be more selective if raced over the last few days (San Pellegrino or Grappa).

Race being decided on the last stage is usual a sign of a particular bad race design rather than a good one. I will never buy a false sense of excitement due to the race not being selective enough earlier.

Just to clarify, in terms of riders I'm completely neutral in this Giro since I only support Intermarché as a team and Pogacar as a rider (and dislike Vingegaard) so honestly didn't mind if Roglic, Del Toro, Carapaz or S.Yates won.

PS: Seems like Rou is my doppleganger with a shorter nickname (or I am their doppleganger with a longer nickname) based on our thoughts.

 

[gregrowlerson]

This Giro was so good that even Tonton might give it more than an 8.

 

[Rackham]

It was entertaining (I don't know, maybe a 6/10 if I'm being harsh) in spite of itself. Crashes and the route played too much of a role on shaping the first two weeks but the finale was right up there with top legendary stages in recent cycling history. For that reason alone it should be remembered well.

It also benefitted from eventually having a tight GC battle between different climber profiles: Carapaz and Del Toro are punchy, Yates isn't. It meant that the 60 minute Finestre climb was the first time Yates was in his own favoured terrain and the punchier rival (Carapaz namely) shot his bullets too early and couldn't sustain the same pace.

 

[gregrowlerson]

Crash derby the first 10 days? One of the favorites getting critizied for not doing enough? One brother being useless to the other? Winner being a redemption story? and about 4 riders looking like possibly winning it over the course of the race? The similarities are endless.

In reality, that Tour had even less in the first 10 days, and people are still mad about the Pyrenees being so ***. But then the she speculative stages like Pinerolo and Gap were much better than Bormio and Champoluc in this one in the third week.

In addition, Serre Chevalier and Alpe d'Huez were both better stages than Finestre, the resulotion just happeend to only be there for people who like really akward Australian men with a Kermit the Frog voice.

Cadel: "If I speak I am in big trouble."

 

[Keldergoat]

I really don't understand someone being a 'cycling fan' and not fully enjoying this Giro. Continuously different scenario's in GC, UAE internal team dynamics, Lidl Trek riding like never before, Visma Carapaz and Ciccone being on their attacking mode constantly, Ineos attacking from afar in multiple stages, how can you not love it? Even the sprint stages were pretty exciting or at least way less dull than the Tour in many cases. Yes there were some disappointing stages (stage 19 was a nightmare) but in general there was entertainment there each day.

I wasn't a great fan of the 2019-2024 Giro editions which were all underwhelming but this was absolute class in every way. I'd give it an 8 or a 9.

 

[gunara]

0. First grand tour in 14 years without easy way to view. No legal access left since the end of GCN. Tiz froze. VPN wouldn't work with Italian races
Managed to watch some stages live,
the boring ones from the 2nd week.

 

[SHAD0W93]

+1 Simon’s redemption and win
+1 Del Toro arriving to the grand tour scene
+1 Carapaz having a good GC run
+1 Bernal looking alive in the first week and Ineos riding more aggressive
+1 Pedersen continuing his early season form
+1 Astana being very lively
-1 all of the crashes

 

[Pozzovivo]

By far the best Giro for years (2018 imo). Old school type of racing with real GC tension among human riders with strengths and weaknesses.

 

[Pozzovivo]

7, but much closer to a 8 than a 6. Best Giro since 2020 and a big step in the right direction after three horrible editions.

+ The best stages were pretty stellar (as was likely given the route)
+ There were probably 5 different riders who could all claim to be the biggest favourite at some point in the race, very few GTs have had that many twists
+ Racing was fairly aggressive throughout, only stage 3 and 19 underwhelmed a bit in this regard
+ Almost every stage from the first MTF onwards was entertaining (as was also likely given the route)
+ No aliens making a mockery of the race

- Not enough GC days in the first two weeks (as was also likely given the route)
- First six days were very slow
- Above average amount of big-name GC riders crashing out
- Zero tension for all three minor classifications

It was a pretty good Giro overall, somewhat reminiscent of (but also a bit weaker than) the 2020 edition. Makes for a good argument for quality over quantity (when ignoring routes that have both) in terms of GC stages because let's face it, it's highly unlikely that this race has as much drama on a stereotypical Vuelta route with 10 functionally unipuerto uphill finishes and not much else. The Finestre stage alone was worth all 10 of such stages combined for me.

Very good summary! Disagree only with first 6 days point. Stage 1 and also 5 were good stages imo.

I'll add that we did have quite a lot of unfortunate crashes that impacted the GC race. Not losing Ciccone, Roglic, Ayuso, Landa, (+Tiberi kinda) should have made the race in the top 10 even more special.

 

[Põhja Konn]

7. Showed the adage that the riders make the race has a lot of truth in it, but also a lot of limitations. Generally, when the terrain allowed, the riders were prepared race, not just wait and save the energy. In case of stage 15, some of them even wanted to race when the route design actively tried to prevent in from happening.

With 2 TT-s, a gravel stage amd Marsia, there were four GC days in the first half of the race, which is not bad at all, specially with the positive attitude this Giro peloton showed. . But the route design had one truly monumental screw up and that was the penultimate weekend. Given that most of the earlier GC days were not climbing oriented, the race really needed the first major mountain tests on that weekend. instead of pointlessly forced upon waiting game for the last week.

In the end the racing was very enjoyable when it happened and the race felt quite refreshing compared to the drearyness of some recent editions of the Giro and the all too common and predictable dominance by couple of aliens seen at many other GTs during current decade.

 

[11-34]

Gave it a 6. Solid bike race that lacked quality riders. And as both Landa and Roglic dropped out the race lost even more relevance at least for me. Still enjoyed it mostly.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I really don't understand someone being a 'cycling fan' and not fully enjoying this Giro. Continuously different scenario's in GC, UAE internal team dynamics, Lidl Trek riding like never before, Visma Carapaz and Ciccone being on their attacking mode constantly, Ineos attacking from afar in multiple stages, how can you not love it? Even the sprint stages were pretty exciting or at least way less dull than the Tour in many cases. Yes there were some disappointing stages (stage 19 was a nightmare) but in general there was entertainment there each day.

I wasn't a great fan of the 2019-2024 Giro editions which were all underwhelming but this was absolute class in every way. I'd give it an 8 or a 9.

Greatly disagree with the first point. I don't understand someone being a 'cycling fan' and not finding something to enjoy in this Giro, but 'fully enjoying' suggests that it was 2010/2015 level, and frankly it just wasn't even remotely on that level; it had suspense and a dramatic conclusion, but while this was a vastly superior edition to 2012, I would point out that that alone does not absolve the previous issues; if Hesjedal and Purito had stared each other down until they dropped enough time for Thomas de Gendt to win the Giro, it may have been dramatic, but it still wouldn't have made that Giro good.

 

[ice&fire]

We had 3 good stages, so a solid 3. Being generous I might want add the number of stages that Landa completed, And that's it.

 

[KZD]

6/10 for me

Only stages 9 and 20 were truly memorable and it lacked mountain stages. Still, a few nice stories, Yates redemption on Finestre, Del Toro's journey in pink, Pedersen monster performances and Van Aert getting closer to his old self.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

We had 3 good stages, so a solid 3. Being generous I might want add the number of stages that Landa completed, And that's it.

So it would have been a 42 if all stages had been great and Landa had made it to Rome?

 

[ice&fire]

So it would have been a 42 if all stages had been great and Landa had made it to Rome?

I like 42: The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything

 

[Red Rick]

I like 42: The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything

41 is the much better number

 

[Peyroteo94]

5. Perfect example of 2011 Tour disease, where a great finale causes people to forget two weeks of absolute nothing where two weeks in people were wondering when the actual racing would start. Recency bias is strong, remembering the otherwise pretty good 2019 Tour being downvoted because of a lame finale caused by the weather as well. But stages 16 and 20 were truly great.

Spot on (despite the incredible gravel stage we had in the first week).

 

[Zoetemelk-fan]

Dropped an 8/10.

However, must inculate that I've missed 3-4 stages of which I glanced the race threads here to be more or less snooze fests.

Stage design / Giro design
In fact, opposite to others, I don't think the Giro start in Albania was all that bad.

But crucial mountain stages could've been distributed way better, in first order you don't put the Champoluc stage in just before very decisive monster stage, the rather dull outcome of stage 19 is very predicted.

Seperately, without the big picture of a of poorly assembled puzzle, I've been greatly entertained for most stages, ofc. first and foremost the Siena and Finistre stages, but also long-term suspense such as the Nova Gorica stage.

Riders
Speaking the latter. it was a real pleasure to witness Asgreen's rebirth as a long-lasting watt monster, regardless of the control on a wet stage, the heroic effort from the start and for 175k only small gap to sprinter teams. Long time suspence sends my mind in hypnotizing suspence mode.

And of course Wout's full return, a redemption to see him back.

And having Mad Mad's in the peleton, it's a pleasure to watch, regardless whether for his own chance or his monster efforts for teammates, meaningful and meaningless, I inhale it all with pleasure. The peleton needs a mad man or two.

In the GC game, Del Toro should ofc be highlighted, spreading attacks and young eagerness across the Giro, of which benefitted race. Really worth watching to me. Moreover, Carapaz' revival and his way of taking the initiative, but also catastrophic disappointments and major defeats, most painful as the Rogla fan here, or Ciccione heartbreaking attempt to stay in the game, Ayuso and others. The disappointments for me were in first place Pidcock.

I had not expected that I would end up cheering for Simon Yates all the way to the edge of my seat, but the circumstances and the riders' initiative, mistakes by some teams, good plans by others, meant that I personally went through the entire range of emotions. That was rarely done in the US Postal and Sky high eras. So it all counts upwards.

But yes, so a number of stages that could have been reversed without it making a big mess in the logistics, but where the riscs of snooze parties would have been lower.

The Siena - and Finistre stages take a lot to break it down for me, personally. Stages I will surely not have forgotten 10 years from here.

However, with my initial reservation it may well be that the number '8' gets an arrow or two down here when I'll be able to watch the stages of which I've missed so far.