Giro d'Italia Giro d'Italia 2025 Route: Speculation, Rumours and Announcements

[Red Rick]

Think I would take Recta Contador over Gavia. Change that and put Tzecore close to the finish and suddenly I genuinely like this route

Both RC and Gavia would be a huge improvement, but if you go RC I think you should also take the final Motte climb out and put the emphasis on Mortirolo. Don't care that much for Tzecore, though the original design was better.

Overall I'm still baffled by how tolerated the route is despite how backloaded it is and how much deliberate sabotage of good racing there is. Bormio and Asiago are inexcusable to me. And then you finally bring on Pradaccio but it's a million km from the finish too.

Before stage 16, we're lucky to get 3km of road stage action outside of the Strade Bianche stage.

 

[Red Rick]

They should have put Gavia in and just have the faux-Mortirolo as the alternative.
Hell, give me the 2012 side of the Mortirolo!

Guspessa one time?

Best designed queen stage of the Giro this decade was the baby Giro.

 

[Onizuka999]

They were working sometimes ago on the Recta Contador. Maybe it will appear in the Giro Next Gen? I can confirm that it won't be in the Giro.

 

[Gigs_98]

Both RC and Gavia would be a huge improvement, but if you go RC I think you should also take the final Motte climb out and put the emphasis on Mortirolo. Don't care that much for Tzecore, though the original design was better.

Overall I'm still baffled by how tolerated the route is despite how backloaded it is and how much deliberate sabotage of good racing there is. Bormio and Asiago are inexcusable to me. And then you finally bring on Pradaccio but it's a million km from the finish too.

Before stage 16, we're lucky to get 3km of road stage action outside of the Strade Bianche stage.

It's backloaded in the sense that there is essentially no relevant mountain stage before week 3. But then week 3 probably only has two stages with big gaps itself. Really think, Asiago, Bormio and the aosta valley stage will be completely softpedalled. So I don't think it's more backloaded than previous years but the overall number of mountain stages where I expect much is ridiculously low. If one of the three stages I mentioned above and the Praddaccio stage turns out to be good I'm already positively surprised

 

[E_F_]

But just think of the excitement on the Finestre stage! It'll all come down to one single stage! What joy.

 

[Netserk]

But just think of the excitement on the Finestre stage! It'll all come down to one single stage! What joy.

It would be the perfect year to end with double Sestriere as Finestre wouldn't be the best climb to wait for any longer.

 

[Cycling111]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1917194089314898302

View: https://x.com/Eurosport_IT/status/1917194089314898302

 

[Red Rick]

Foreign starts is one thing but then going back outside the country to start the final stage in a whole different nation is just going too far.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Foreign starts is one thing but then going back outside the country to start the final stage in a whole different nation is just going too far.

So you're suggesting that we should just annex that thing?

 

[Netserk]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1917241973703860332

View: https://x.com/ammattipyoraily/status/1917241973703860332

 

[E_F_]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1917241973703860332

View: https://x.com/ammattipyoraily/status/1917241973703860332

The platonic ideal of a backloaded GT.

 

[Netserk]

Other than stage 14, I think the pacing and overall structure is perfectly fine. The first half of the race only has a single boring sprint stage.

 

[zlev11]

yeah it's just...the route would be sooo much better with just a few changes. the Bormio stage needs to just be...completely different. if that was Mortirolo-Aprica instead that would make me love this route.

 

[YavorD]

yeah it's just...the route would be sooo much better with just a few changes. the Bormio stage needs to just be...completely different. if that was Mortirolo-Aprica instead that would make me love this route.

Or, as @Red Rick stated, use the baby Giro 2022 stage as example.
Go through Tonale-Aprica-Guspessa and keep the finish in Bormio

 

[OlavEH]

There are two good aspects about this route. That is the Finestre stage and the sterrato stage to Siena. Otherwise it's mostly missed opportunities. It's pretty amazing that when they do San Pellegrino in Alpe, Monte Grappa, Bormio finish with a start nearby Trento and a Champoluc finish, they don't manage to create something better than this. One could also add a Nova Gorica finish. It is almost like they aim to make it bad.......

 

[Mayomaniac]

Other than stage 14, I think the pacing and overall structure is perfectly fine. The first half of the race only has a single boring sprint stage.

It's not the pacing, it's the stages and what side of the climbs they (don't) use. A hard side of Grappa, 2012 Mortirolo or this one just as a bad weather alternative to Gavia and maybe an uphill finish on that Murito above Novi Gorica that the Tour of Slovenia has used before and this would be sooo much better. They banked on a route that would attract Evenepoel, after he has already robbed them multiple times. Vegni and his handler Cairo are spine- and shameless.

 

[Rou]

If they remove the Finestre just add the Zoncolan and make it a battle royale.

 

[Netserk]

It's not the pacing, it's the stages and what side of the climbs they (don't) use. A hard side of Grappa, 2012 Mortirolo or this one just as a bad weather alternative to Gavia and maybe an uphill finish on that Murito above Novi Gorica that the Tour of Slovenia has used before and this would be sooo much better. They banked on a route that would attract Evenepoel, after he has already robbed them multiple times. Vegni and his handler Cairo are spine- and shameless.

Yes, that I agree with. But I don't think the route being back-loaded is a good criticism.

 

[YavorD]

If they remove the Finestre just add the Zoncolan and make it a battle royale.

How do you propose they do that?

 

[Red Rick]

Yes, that I agree with. But I don't think the route being back-loaded is a good criticism.

I think it's absolutely a valid criticism, considering the main road stages for action are stage 16, 19 and 20, and there's basically only a gravel stage and a short punchy MTF before.

There's been multiple Giro routes that had big mountain stages far earlier that were torn to shreds by this forum, and the only reason it appears to escape a lot of criticism because in addition to good mountain stages, it also lacks MTFs, so basically they get some sort of credit for bad mountain stages cause they don't have MTFs.

 

[OlavEH]

It's not the pacing, it's the stages and what side of the climbs they (don't) use. A hard side of Grappa, 2012 Mortirolo or this one just as a bad weather alternative to Gavia and maybe an uphill finish on that Murito above Novi Gorica that the Tour of Slovenia has used before and this would be sooo much better. They banked on a route that would attract Evenepoel, after he has already robbed them multiple times. Vegni and his handler Cairo are spine- and shameless.

You could also add the pacing of climbs on the Champoluc stage including putting this the day before Finestre. A Champoluc finish could have been a queen stage by using a sequence of Saint Barthelemy - Panthaleo - Arlaz - Tzecore - Joux, but it is far from that. Instead of using it in such a useless fashion, they should rather have saved this for a later version and made it a queen stage.

 

[Red Rick]

Another pet peeve of mine is the conflation of "not many sprinter stages" with good routes. This includes ignoring the Giro will get the 2 most durable sprinters on the start list, and that it leads to just transitional breakaway stages.

 

[Rou]

How do you propose they do that?

I'm just voicing my disappointment with the Giro route as a whole. I know it can't be done but the organisers year after year design these stages with high chance for cancellation.
The whole race will be asleep for 15 days and then bam - we cancel and remove all the hard parts in the end.

 

[Tim Cahill]

That Redbull km gimmick has Roglic crash written all over it.

 

[E_F_]

I think it makes a lot of sense to critique a route for ensuring that all GC action will be limited to the penultimate stage.

Either make a cool, easy route and ditch the Finestre stage (or make it easier/less nailed on selective) - or make a super hard route with multiple stages as tough as the Finestre stage.