Well, that's crept up on us hasn't it?! With many (most?) of us no longer having [legal] access to coverage of cycle racing with the move to the £31 a month TNT package, I have (like many other I guess) lost track of where we are in the season, so it's a timely reminder that the Giro d'Italia starts with the Gran Partenza tomorrow, with the first three days being spent on the other side of the Adriatic in Albania.
I'm not going to even TRY to summarise the contenders, mainly becuse I've not got a clue - even more so than in previous years. I can though add a few links to other sites that give some thought to the matter
https://www.cyclingstage.com/giro-2025-favourites/contenders-italy-2025/
and the official entry list:
https://www.giroditalia.it/en/news/giro-ditalia-2025-entry-list/
As usual I've created a mini league on velogames, with evenless forethought then in previous years my "throwaway" team choices may prove even worse then normal, but at least I recognise all the names. Whether that's a good thing or not anothermatter
Anyway, if you want to join the fantasy DS stakes, head over to Velogames and get your entry in before 13:15 CET (12:15 BST) on Friday 9th May
https://www.velogames.com/italy/2025
The code for the STW mini league is 170623027, and that league will cover you for ALL velogames competitions so we can use the same one for the TDF and the vuelta
It is certainly a lot more open than last year when it rapidly became a sweepstake about how many stages Pog would win and how many minutes he would win the overall by.
I would like to see a Yates win or even a Bernal revival but the hard cash would go on Ayuso.
Cycling Weekly reckon Quest TV will be doing a highlights show for the Giro every evening...
Also, by happy coincidence I'll be in Rome for the final stage... It'll be a ceremonial affair I'm sure, but a good spectacle all the same.
With many (most?) of us no longer having [legal] access to coverage of cycle racing
Using a VPN to bypass geo-restrictions and watch cycling on e.g. SBS Australia is not illegal in the UK. It may be morally wrong.
It may be morally wrong.
It's morally wrong to increase the cost of watching this by 300%, so it's a big 'meh' from me
Thanks for the tip..
Team Higgo entered 😀
Splendid - that did indeed creep up on me too !
Shitty team duly entered
I’ve been enjoying the Cycling Podcast’s spring classics coverage, having only really listened to them around the TdF before, so will continue to listen to their analysis after each stage. Michael Storer could be a dark horse pick….just win the Tour of the Alps.
Team entered- The Creaking Pressfits
Team is in
Vuelta 24 was rather interesting without Pog, so here is hoping for the same in Giro 25
Bump for the evening crowd
My team - Team Gelato is ready for action.
Hooray for the Giro. I love the change in rhythm in the cycling season just now and absent Pog this year the Giro is back to being open and unpredictable, just how I like it.
I'm interested to see how Roglič gets on this year. He's a phenomenal racer but is quite often his own biggest opponent. Looking forward to seeing how his team get on shielding him from the madness of the Giro.
Thanks nbt!
Wow, 16 in the minileague already
https://www.velogames.com/italy/2025/leaguescores.php?league=170623027
You still have a few hours to get a team entered - as long as your team is ready by the time the race starts (or rather the entry deadline), you can join the league at any point
Don't forget a list minute check for any non-starters!
Poor old WvA going in on the back of illness and no training ☹️
I wonder at what point he stops focusing on victories and accepts more of a super-domestique role a-la previous tours with Vingegaard.
Poor old WvA going in on the back of illness and no training ☹️
eeek, now I need to rethink my team!
I just hope the highlights show is better than the awful 'Ultimate Cycling Show'...
aaaaaand away ! (on the Tiz feed anyway)
Roglic off the bike already !!
(for a slash)
Coverage starts and I see 5 riders are currently up the road: Verre, Moniquet, Van der Hoorn, Tonelli and Tarozzi.
I considered THREE of those for my team but didn't eben up with any of the (I went for Pinarello)
OOOF, hope Landa and everyone else is OK
Just to add that Quest (free to air) has an hour of highlights every night from 7pm - highlights of Stage 1 are on now (currently 7.15pm Friday).
Landa out, broken thoracic vertebra. What a pisser.
Roglic off the bike already !!
I saw him having a slash ON the bike.
Poor old WvA going in on the back of illness and no training
Did quite well considering.
Landa crash looked nasty
Albanians are oblivious to the giro
UAE? Where where you?
Wva looked better than advertised. He looked wrecked at the end but I reckon he will boss week 2.
Pidcock should be more selective on what he wants to win
It looked easy for Bora
My team looks way better than Mrs Llama and there is a bet on the result
Oh yes. Ineos looked shyte. Tarling dragged Bernal over the line while looking smashed, ear piece hanging out. Not the best prep for tomorrow, he could have been in pink.
Just to add that Quest (free to air) has an hour of highlights every night from 7pm - highlights of Stage 1 are on now (currently 7.15pm Friday).
Stumbled across this earlier - sadly just as MrsMC staggered in the door after a long day at work and needed feeding
Pidcock should be more selective on what he wants to win
A suspect a good haul of UCI points is a target for the team.
SBS FTW! Good 51min highlight show of stage 1
Back to Italy today and a long flat run-in means this should be the first full sprint. Elbows at the ready!
Oh yes. Ineos looked shyte. Tarling dragged Bernal over the line while looking smashed, ear piece hanging out. Not the best prep for tomorrow, he could have been in pink.
He did OK in the end though!
And predictions for today? One of the main sprinters? I'll go for Kaden Groves.
Finish is in Lecce, was there a few years ago as part of a trip around Puglia. It's got a lovely old town. We got a free bucket of beers in the hotel as we'd booked with Hotels.com, which was nice. They were Corona though. Which was less nice.
Kooij to win , Pedersen second, Groves 3rd
Poor guy from Polti Visit Malti sprinted off the front at the flag drop, then realised he was the only one. It's going to be a long hard lonely day for him with over 180k to the finish. There's a 20km circuit so I'd guess they'll aim to catch in the final 40km or so.
It's nice though to actually see crowds out to watch the race. As beautiful as the country was, there was a noticable lack of cheering crowds in Albania
I think it's one of those stages to watch the text updates and only join for the last 20km, unless something interesting happens.
The breakaway guy got up to about 3 minutes but was caught with over 50km to go. Kooij beat Pedersen at the intermediate sprint...
Not a great day for some, Q36.5 lost Zukowsky in an early crash, Lidl Trek lost Soren Kragh Adersen as he broke his wrist in a crash on the final loop
It's a long day today and it's turned wet which is having consequences - Race currently neutralised with 70km+ to go, there are people down all along a straight road. Jai Hindley is not getting up at the moment. Looks like someone just behind the front of the bunch used the brakes a little too keenly and just went down, with riders going down behind like skittles
edit - Hindley has got up, but only to get into an ambulance 🙁
Gravel stage today with the Strada Bianche finish into Siena.
I did look at going out there for a long weekend but it got way too complicated with hire cars and flight times. 🙁
That was a good stage today!
Very open, lots of "looking good - oh maybe not". Highlights on Quest at 7pm should be worthwhile. The final 5km is up on YouTube - won't post it here cos the title pretty much gives away the winner, or at least knocks it to an educated guess.
Was great to see Bernal at the front, shame he faded back to the other group
Missed the 7pm highlights show!! Sounds like a little shake up, not a bad thing makes for interesting times ahead, hopefully.
...just looked the the mini league B'Hop is 2nd, I'm nearly last!!
