Cycling
The Slovenian cyclist already has many victories to his name, but he's not done yet. He and the Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe team have big plans.
Primož Roglič will lead an ambitious and talented team at the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France this year. The Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe team unveiled its plans and ambitions for the 2025 season at the December training camp in Mallorca. The central target, of course, is the Grand Tours, with the Slovenian winner of the pink jersey in 2023 as the 'iconic man' at the start of the first two of the season.
After sealing 2024 with his fourth career victory in the Vuelta a España, in which he won the duel with Ben O'Connor, beating him in the final classification by 2'36'' (while team-mate Florian Lipowitz secured a top-10 finish), the 35-year-old from Trbovlje now wants to add to his prize list a second victory at the Giro d'Italia and his first title at the Grande Boucle, in which he has three stage victories to his credit.
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Endless love for the Giro d'Italia
The Slovenian champion will compete in the Volta ao Algarve in February and the Volta a Catalunya in March. Then he will arrive in Italy ready to tackle three demanding weeks from Durres, Albania, to Rome, the capital of the Bel Paese, which already crowned him king two years ago, before the domination of compatriot and current world champion Tadej Pogacar.
For the captain of the Red Bull - BORA - Hansgrohe team, the Giro d'Italia is a special event: "For us Slovenians, the Giro is unique," he said, "because it is the closest big stage race to us and often even crosses into Slovenia, as will happen this year on stage 14, which will pass through Nova Gorica. It is great to race the Giro because there are a lot of Slovenian people in the crowd. For me and the team, putting it on the calendar as the first big goal of the year was an easy decision."
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Pretenders for the pink jersey
Roglič was the first of the big names in international cycling to say yes to the pink race. If he can find himself in the leader's jersey again, he will be the first to win the pink race after age 35. He will have to contend with the classification men who have already signed up - Juan Ayuso and Adam Yates, Richard Caparaz, Mikel Landa, Romain Bardet, David Gaudu and Egan Bernal. Don't forget the debut of a 'total' rider like Wout van Aert. At the same time, Italy awaits the flashes of Giulio Ciccone and the confirmation of Antonio Tiberi, 2024's fifth and best young rider.
Roglič will be able to count on a team of the highest level, with team-mates who have already experienced the thrill of standing on the final podium. At his side, he will have Jai Hindley, winner of the pink jersey in 2022, and Dani Martínez, runner-up in 2024. The Australian will use the Tirreno-Adriatico to prepare himself, while the Colombian will race the 2025 edition of Paris-Nice to reach his best condition.
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The route of Giro d'Italia 108
The Giro d'Italia 2025 will start for the 15th time from abroad - in Albania, where the first three stages will take place - and will finish in Rome, which will host the Grand Arrival for the seventh time. There will be 3413km for 52,500 metres of altitude difference, 10,000 more than last year's edition. Two individual time trials for a total of 42.3km, six stages for sprinters and eight medium mountain and five high mountain stages are the difficulties the riders will face from Friday, May 9, to Sunday, June 1. There will be about 38km of gravel roads, 30 white roads in the final of the Siena stage and eight on the Colle delle Finestre, which will also be La Cima Coppi of the Giro with its 2,178 metres. The Pantani Mountain will be the Mortirolo Pass, while the Bartali Stage will be the Gubbio-Siena, with arrival in Piazza del Campo.
Here are the stages in detail:
Starting in Albania
Three demanding stages - including an individual time trial along the streets of Tirana - are the starters of the Giro d'Italia 2025 in Albania. A demanding first stage with arrival in the capital and a finale with two close climbs and double-digit gradients. The time trial will be followed by the Valona stage with the ascent of Qafa and Llogarasë, the first point above 1000 metres in the Corsa Rosa.
First week
After the first rest day on Monday, May 12, we start again with three stages potentially suitable for sprints but not necessarily for a compact group. The race goes up the peninsula with the first uphill finish in Abruzzo at Tagliacozzo. After the stage arrives in Castelraimondo, they will move on to the Gubbio-Siena, Bartali stage of this edition, with five sectors of white roads (around 30km) in the finale before the arrival in Piazza del Campo.
Second week
The second rest day is on Monday, May 19. It starts again in Tuscany with the time trial from Lucca to Pisa, a re-edition in a modern key of the 1977 time trial won by Knut Knudsen. The following day celebrates the return to the Giro after 25 years, including the climb of San Pellegrino in the Alps. It's a very moving stage as cyclists arrive in Castelnovo ne' Monti. Three interlocutory but treacherous stages followed: Viadana in the sprint, Vicenza with a close on the Monte Berico climb and Nova Gorica/Gorizia with its cross-border circuit. The week ends in Asiago with a very demanding stage with 3900 metres of altitude difference, although without an uphill finish.
Third week
After the last rest day, here is the Trentino: five hard climbs concatenated without breathing and an uphill finish in San Valentino (Brentonico) on Monte Baldo overlooking Lake Garda. The arrivals of Bormio - a stage that includes the Montagna Pantani, the Mortirolo Pass - and Cesano Maderno precede two stages for the men in the rankings. The first, from Biella to Champoluc, is short but offers a demanding altitude difference (4950 metres). The Valdostane climbs will follow one after the other without any flat intervals until the finish. The second, from Verrès to Sestrière, is long and re-proposes the final Colle delle Finestre (eight kilometres of dirt road and Cima Coppi 2025) and Sestrière couplet, which since its first appearance in 2005 (20th anniversary) has been a guarantee of spectacle.
Grand finale in Rome with the circuit in the Eternal City.
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Tour de France and Vuelta a España
However the pink race goes, Roglič does not intend to stop and will attempt the Tour de France assault, along with Russian-French Aleks Vlasov and Dani Martínez. At the same time, Hindley and Vlasov will be team leaders at the Vuelta a España 2025. The plans on paper were drawn up at the beginning of the year by team manager Ralph Denk: "Our long-term strategy wants to establish the team as the most attractive brand in big cycling. In addition to the grand tours, there are many highlights on the calendar, for example, the one-week stage races, where our talents can gain experience and prepare for the next step. Or the one-day races, for which we have strengthened our team with new riders and are working equally.
The 2025 roster includes 'our' Giovanni Aleotti, Gianni Moscon, Giulio Pellizzari and Matteo Sobrero, who will try to carry the Italian flag as high as possible on the roads of Italy and around the world. In the Development Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe Rookies line-up, the names of junior world champion Lorenzo Mark Finn and Davide Donati are two young promises for whom the future looks bright.
Alongside the team, there will be the all-around technical partnership of Specialized, which, in addition to supplying helmets, shoes and other accessories, 2025, is also, for the first time, the official racewear partner of a UCI World Tour team.
The excellent cycling season is ready to begin. The first road race on the international calendar is the Tour Down Under, which will start on January 21 in Australia. Suitable for the fast wheels, the Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe team will field Welsford, van Poppel, Pithie, Fisher-Black, Maciejuk, Mullen and Zwiehoff to start the new year with arms raised.