Giro d'Italia

The Giro d'Italia 2025 will be the race's 108th edition. The prestigious three-week, 21-stage event is the opener in the trio of Grand Tours, followed by the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España.

Starting on 9 May 2025, the Corsa Rosa has its Grande Partenza in Albania for the first time in its history. After three days on Albanian soil the route returns to Italy, where the top GC contenders will battle it out for the prestigious maglia rosa, or pink jersey.

Following his historic Triple Crown triumph last year - winning the Giro d'Italia, Tour de France, and World Championships, for the first time since 1987 - Tadej Pogačar has yet to confirm whether he'll be back to defend his title in Italy.

Last year the Slovenian romped to victory, winning six stages and the King of the Mountains jersey. Not content with that, he finished with an advantage just shy of 10 minutes over second-placed Dani Martínez - the biggest winning margin since 1965.

But if Pogačar skips the Giro in 2025 that opens the door not just to his main rivals, the likes of Primož Roglič and Jonas Vingegaard, but also some potential outsiders for the podium. The Giro can see an eclectic mix of riders, with many - including, historically, Vingegaard - opting out of the year's first Grand Tour to concentrate on a tilt at the Tour de France.

This year, Cycling Weekly will be covering the race with daily race reports, reactions following each stage, and analysis as the Italian showdown progresses.

Read more: Giro d'Italia 2025 route

Giro d'Italia 2025: Key details

Stage-by-stage reports from the Giro d'Italia 2025

This section will be updated with race reports when the Giro d'Italia 2025 begins.

Giro d'Italia 2025: The route 

The Giro d'Italia 2025 will kick off in Durrës, Albania, with a medium-mountains opener traversing 164km to the Albanian capital Tirana. Billed as a 'mountain stage in the city' by organisers RCS, it will feature 1,800m of climbing, getting the race off to a less than gentle start.

Stage 2 will feature a 13.7km individual time trial on the streets of Tirana, before the Grande Partenza concludes with a similar medium-mountains test to Stage 1. The third stage of the Giro will take in 2,800m of climbing compacted into a short 160km loop starting and ending in Vlorë.

After a tricky first three days the fast men come into the equation, with three back to back flat (or flat-ish) stages as the race heads into its mother country. There are six sprint stages in total, including the now-customary loop in and out of Rome on the final day.

A jaunt in the Apennines and some Tuscan white gravel also feature in the opening week, while the action returns with the second of two time trials. There isn't much climbing in the first half of the race, but the organisers make up for it with a challenging final week, with more than 5,000m of climbing packed into both Stages 19 and 20. Those two days in the saddle will decide the winner of this year's Giro d'Italia.

Read more: Giro d'Italia 2025 route

Giro d'Italia 2025: Stage-by-stage

Giro d'Italia 2025: The jerseys

The rider wearing the pink jersey (maglia rosa) leads the general classification. This is the rider who has accumulated the fastest time around the route so far, inclusive of time bonuses collected. On the final day, it is awarded to the overall general classification winner along with the Trofeo Senza Fine.

There are other jerseys up for grabs too. The purple (ciclamino) jersey is awarded to the rider who has accumulated the most points. More points are offered at the end of flatter, punchier stages than on mountain finishes, so this is a jersey for the sprinters. The blue (azzura) jersey goes to the rider who accumulates the most points on classified climbs, and the white (bianca) jersey is like the pink jersey but given to the best young rider under 26.

Read about the Giro d'Italia jerseys here.

More about the Giro d'Italia 2025

• Giro d'Italia 2025 route
• Giro d'Italia 2025 start list - TBC
• Giro d'Italia jerseys
• How much prize money does the winner of the Giro d'Italia get?
• How to watch the Giro d'Italia
• What is the 'Red Bull KM' at the Giro d'Italia?

Giro d'Italia: Past winners