Favorites mountain classification Giro d'Italia 2025 | Impressive attackers but above all, an Ecuadorian King of the Mountains

Check out other articles about the Giro d'Italia from IDLProCycling.com:
- Preview of the Giro d'Italia 
- Favorites general classification (pink jersey)
- Favorites points classification (purple jersey)
- Favorites youth classification (white jersey)
- Betting pool tips for the Giro d'Italia

2024 - Tadej Pogacar
2023 - Thibaut Pinot
2022 - Koen Bouwman
2021 - Geoffroy Bouchard
2020 - Ruben Guerreiro
2019 - Giulio Ciccone
2018 - Chris Froome
2017 - Mikel Landa
2016 - Mikel Nieve
2015 - Giovanni Visconti

Mountains, mountains, mountains. Italy is full of them, but surprisingly, unlike in previous years, the organizers aren't rushing into the really tough stages. The first category 1 climb isn't until stage 7, and the Giro's real focus is on the last week. That's when things will really explode, with a few legendary climbs that could completely shake up the mountain classification.

Fourth category:
3, 2 and 1 point

Third category:
9, 4, 2 and 1 point

Second category:
18, 8, 6, 4, 2 and 1 point
Finish: 26, 12, 6, 4, 2 and 1 point

First category:
40, 18, 12, 9, 6, 4, 2 and 1 point
Finish: 50, 24, 16, 9, 6, 4, 2 and 1 point

Cima Coppi: Colle delle Finestre
50, 30, 20, 14, 10, 6, 4, 2 and 1 point

He turned 28 at the beginning of this year, but that didn't stop Nicolas Prodhomme from scoring the first professional victory of his career. The Frenchman from Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale rode to the finish line in the final stage of the Tour of the Alps with his much younger teammate Paul Seixas, who let Prodhomme take the victory. It was a reward for the experienced Frenchman after years of loyal teamwork.

With that first victory secured, Prodhomme will head to the Giro this month, where he hopes to continue his good form. He has competed in the Tour of Italy twice before, in 2022 and 2023, finishing 65th and 23rd, respectively. With his strong legs on the climbs, the veteran could do well in the mountains classification, especially if he makes that his goal. The French team is heading to the Giro with Sam Bennett as its top rider, so the focus will mainly be on the sprints.

He has ridden the Giro once before, in the coronavirus year of 2020, but did not finish so that Chris Harper will aim for a better Giro d'Italia than last time. The Australian riding for an Australian team did not have an ideal spring, although he did show that he is in reasonably good shape.

After a decent start in his home country, Harper finished sixth in the Tour of Oman. Due to illness, the UAE Tour, which was actually on the Australian's schedule, was canceled. He only returned to action after two months in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, where he finished 42nd. So it remains to be seen exactly how fit he is, but if he chooses his stages carefully, Harper could accumulate a lot of mountain points.

Of course, it will not be his goal, but due to the mountain points system and the Giro's route, riders such as Juan Ayuso often finish high in the mountain classification. The Spaniard from UAE Team Emirates-XRG is one of the favorites for the overall victory and perhaps the best climber in a field like the Giro d'Italia.

The 22-year-old rider is also in excellent form. This spring, the Spaniard won the Faun Drome Classic, the Trofeo Laigueglia, a stage, the GC in the Tirreno-Adriatico, and a stage in the Tour of the Basque Country. In the latter race, he was defeated in the final stage by Primoz Roglic, the other top favorite we will encounter later in this list.

XDS-Astana is performing exceptionally well this year, and we have also seen an unstoppable Lorenzo Fortunato. The 28-year-old Italian had a strong first part of the spring but could not secure a victory. That was until the second stage of the Tour de Romandie, where Fortunato sprinted to the sixth victory of his career after a late breakaway. It was the first victory in just over two years for the man from Bologna after winning the Tour of Asturias in 2023.

This will be Fortunato's fifth participation in the Giro d'Italia. The Italian made his debut in 2021 and immediately made an impact. In the fourteenth stage, the climber won on the legendary Monte Zoncolan, which led to a huge celebration for Fortunato and his team, EOLO-Kometa. With his top form and experience, the Italian could be the big surprise on the climbs.

After years of disappointment, Giulio Ciccone will finally have a year without setbacks in 2025 as he heads toward his big goal. This year, that goal is the Giro and the Italian from Lidl-Trek will confidently head there. After finishing second on Jebel Hafeet, the 30-year-old climber also finished second in the GC of the UAE Tour before winning the first stage of the Tour of the Alps in April. He eventually finished fourth in that stage race before Ciccone finished second in Liège-Bastogne-Liège with a fine performance.

The Italian is, therefore, in top form for his eighth Giro. He won three stages in 2016, 2019, and 2022 in his previous seven participations. Anyone familiar with the three-year cycle will understand that another stage victory is on the cards for 2025. Given his current form, Ciccone could well make a big impact in the mountains, especially if, for whatever reason, he is no longer in contention for the GC.

If there is anyone who will be full of confidence in the run-up to the Giro, it is Michael Storer. The Tudor veteran already had a great spring with a stage win in Paris-Nice (and fifth place in the GC) and confirmed his top form in the Tour of the Alps. With a stage victory in the second stage, he put the competition in the five-day stage race minutes behind, which is anything but usual in the Tour of the Alps.

This makes the 28-year-old Australian a very dangerous outsider for a good classification. He will not have much to fear from his rivals on the climbs, except Ayuso and Roglic, and his relative anonymity may give him a little more space than the other outsiders. The same applies to Storer as to Ciccone: if a good GC finish is no longer possible, the Tudor rider could set his sights on the mountain jersey.

As we mentioned with Ayuso, Primoz Roglic could also finish high in the mountains classification for the same reason. The 2023 Giro winner, who finished sixth in the mountains classification, is heading to the Giro full of confidence after his overall victory (and two stage wins) in the Tour of Catalonia. How Roglic will perform is still an open question, as he only took part in the Tour of the Algarve and the Tour of Catalonia in preparation for the race.

The Slovenian from Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe has only ridden the Giro three times before. Roglic made his big breakthrough at WorldTour level in the 2016 Giro d'Italia, winning a time trial (stage 9). Today, the four-time Vuelta winner is one of the very best climbers, making a high ranking in the mountains classification a likely scenario in this Giro.

Next on the list was perhaps the revelation of last year's Giro. Then, just 22 years old, Georg Steinhauser finished third in stages 15 and 19 but went solo to victory on the Passo Brocon in stage 17. It would be the biggest victory of Steinhauser's career while laying the foundation for his eventual third place in the mountains classification.

In preparation, the German rider included three stage races in his program. After a decent UAE Tour, where he finished twelfth overall, he was close to a stage victory in Paris-Nice. In the seventh stage to Auron, he was beaten by the aforementioned Storer and his compatriot Mauro Schmid. After an anonymous Tour of Catalonia, the 23-year-old rider will head to the start in Albania, where he could well set his sights on the mountain jersey. His team, EF Education-EasyPost, usually likes to aim for that.

In second place behind Fortunato is another rider from the in-form XDS-Astana team, Christian Scaroni. The 27-year-old Italian is lining up in Albania for his third consecutive Giro. He finished fifth and fourth in last year's edition before failing to start the eighteenth stage.

Scaroni had a good start to 2025, finishing second, second, third, and fifth in six days of racing in Spain. In France, he won the Classic Var and the Tour des Alpes-Maritimes before finishing second in the Trofeo Laigueglia in his home country. The born attacker from Brescia could well be the big surprise of the year on the climbs in the Giro.

Our top favorite for the mountain jersey in the 2025 Giro is Richard Carapaz. The former winner of the Tour of Italy (in 2019) is a master at winning the mountain jersey. He did so in 2022 in the Vuelta a España, after which he took the polka dot jersey to Paris in last year's Tour de France. With a victory in the Giro's mountain classification, Carapaz would complete a remarkable trilogy.

The strong climber from Ecuador will start his fourth Giro on Friday. Carapaz finished fourth (2018), first (2019), and second (2022) in his previous three participations, finishing fifth, fourth, and ninth in the mountain classification, respectively. The question is how the EF Education EasyPost rider is coming into form. A tenth place in the Tour of Catalonia and ninth place in the Tour des Alpes-Maritimes this year are not necessarily the results we are used to seeing from Carapaz. However, he will have planned his preparation carefully.