LIVE stage 14 Giro d'Italia 2025 | Twists, turns, and a visit to Slovenia: tougher and trickier than it looks

The riders will start in Treviso, where the 2023 World Gravel Championships will also start and where Lars Boom became world cyclo-cross champion in 2008. From the Italian city, the riders will pass through the lowlands of Veneto to Friuli, where they will follow the Tagliamento River.

The first three-quarters of the stage feature hardly any climbs, but it does feature intermediate sprints in Morsano and Talmassons and the Red Bull kilometer in Manzano. A few kilometers after that Red Bull kilometer, the riders reach Slovenia for the first time, after which we alternate between the two countries.

About forty kilometers from the finish, the final stage begins with the climb of Gonace. However, at 3.5 kilometers at 4.9 percent, it will not intimidate experienced professionals—afterward, the route heads towards Gorizia or Nova Gorica.

The main feature here is the climb up the Saver, which the riders have to tackle twice. The first time is 22 kilometers from the finish, and the second time is with 8,000 meters to go. 0.7 kilometers at 7.7 percent is not particularly difficult, but combined with the technical 14-kilometer lap the riders have to complete, it could wreak havoc.

From the Saver, the route mainly involves twists, turns, and roundabouts, which means the peloton will ride in a ribbon towards the finish, making it difficult for any sprinters at the back to catch up. The final straight is 900 meters long.

By the way, the Saver was also the setting for this finale in 2021, when an early breakaway—after a neutralization due to a massive crash in the opening phase—took the win. It ultimately came down to a sprint between Dutchman Oscar Riesebeek and Belgian Victor Campenaerts. Campenaerts won, as you can see in the images below.

Climbs
157.1 km: Gonace (3.5 km a 4.9%)
173.6 km: Saver (0.7 km a 7.7%)
187.4 km: Saver (0.7 km a 7.7%)

Times
Start: 12:45 PM local time (06:45 AM EDT)
Finish: around 5:15 PM local time (11:15 AM EDT)

Conditions in the border region are expected to be fairly good. Weather forecasts predict a temperature of 19 degrees Celsius, a small chance of precipitation, and a light breeze.

Good climbers who like a bit of chaos will be keen on a twisty finish with some elevation gain. In this Giro d'Italia, you automatically think of Lidl-Trek's Mads Pedersen, who performs well where he can and knows that he has to make it harder for the pure sprinters in a stage like this. On Thursday, he saw once again that he lacks pure speed, which they would like to avoid at Lidl-Trek. Let's not forget they can also count on Mathias Vacek.

At Alpecin-Deceuninck, Kaden Groves started the Giro a little shaky, but the Australian is starting to come through and already has a stage win under his belt. The Belgian team's sprinter will find a new chance for day success in Slovenia, as his technical and physical abilities will allow him to find a finish that suits him.

What about Visma | Lease a Bike? That's also a realistic question when you closely examine the stage profile of this fourteenth stage. Olav Kooij can handle a hill and should, therefore, aim for success, but this is also a stage that Wout van Aert should be perfectly suited to after his duel in Vicenzo the day before. So it will probably depend on the race scenario which card the Dutch team will play.

Continuing down the list of sprinters, we know that riders such as Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step), Orluis Aular (Movistar), Max Kanter (XDS-Astana), Sam Bennett (Decathlon AG2R), Casper van Uden (Picnic PostNL), Milan Fretin (Cofidis) and Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech) can all handle a hill and usually position themselves well afterward.

For men from the list Gerben Thijssen (Intermarché-Wanty), Matteo Moschetti (Q36.5), Luca Mozzato (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Matevz Govekar (Bahrain Victorious) and Maikel Zijlaard (Tudor) will probably find it too difficult, which means we are more likely to see some punchy types from the category of Rick Pluimers (Tudor), Filippo Fiorelli (VF Group-Bardiani), Edoardo Zambanini (Bahrain Victorious) and Andrea Vendrame of Decathlon AG2R.

We are already on the penultimate weekend, and the teams are starting to count down their chances. Knowing that the final week will mainly consist of challenging mountain stages, we now expect something from fast riders such as Ben Turner (INEOS Grenadiers), Kevin Geniets (Groupama-FDJ) and Taco van der Hoorn (Intermarché-Wanty). The latter will have looked closely at Campenaerts' stunt in 2021 in preparation for one of his last chances.

Top favorites: Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek)
Outsiders: Olav Kooij, Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike), Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step) and Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech)
Long shots: Max Kanter (XDS-Astana), Sam Bennett (Decathlon AG2R), Casper van Uden (Picnic PostNL), Milan Fretin (Cofidis), Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek), Ben Turner (INEOS Grenadiers), Kevin Geniets (Groupama-FDJ) and Taco van der Hoorn (Intermarché-Wanty)