Favorites stage 8 Giro d'Italia 2025 | Poels and Roglic face terrain that is very suited to their skills!

The riders start Saturday in Giulianova, a town that hosted a stage finish in Tirreno-Adriatico last year, won by Jonathan Milan. We’re in the Abruzzo region, and it won’t be the last time Tirreno-Adriatico is referenced here — it visits this area nearly every year.

From the start, the road gently climbs for the first 25 kilometers, before a short descent leads into the Croce di Casale, a third-category climb: 8.6 km at 4.5%. The summit comes around 60 km into the stage. After a short descent, the riders roll across a sort of plateau toward the Sassotetto, the toughest climb of the day.

The Sassotetto stretches 13.1 km at an average gradient of 7.4%, but that number includes a relatively easy opening kilometer. The second half of the climb is a steady 8%, making it a great test for pure climbers. And this is only halfway into the 197 km stage. The climb featured in Tirreno-Adriatico as recently as 2023, when Primoz Roglic claimed the win ahead of Giulio Ciccone.

After the Sassotetto, the race enters a 40 km transition phase before hitting the Montelago climb: 5.5 km at 6.9%, with the final 1.5 km ramping up to 9.5%. A descent of over 25 km follows — potentially a place that might be decisive for breakaway moves.

Then comes the Red Bull Kilometer, at the castle of Santa Maria: 1.4 km at 7.3%, the first of three short 'kicker' climbs in the finale. With 7 km to go, the road kicks up again at 11.9%, followed shortly by the Gagliole (0.8 km at 8.1%), which crests with less than 7 km to the finish in Castelraimondo, where the final 500 meters are also slightly uphill.

Climbs
60.9 km: Croce di Casale (8.6 km at 4.5%)
104.9 km: Sassotetto (13.1 km at 7.4%)
152.1 km: Montelago (5.5 km at 6.9%)
190.5 km: Gagliole (0.8 km at 8.1%)

Times
Start: 12:15 PM local time (6:15 AM EDT)
Finish: around 5:15 PM local time (11:15 AM EDT)

After two rainy days, Saturday looks brighter. There’s still a chance of showers on the Sassotetto climb, but both the start and finish areas are expected to be sunny with temperatures between 15 and 20°C.

With over 3,800 meters of elevation, you'd think this would be another day for the GC riders. But after Friday’s big showdown and with a decisive stage looming on Sunday, many GC riders are likely to hold back. That opens the door for opportunistic attackers.

There haven’t been many chances for breakaway specialists so far, but some riders have shown promising form. Wout Poels, for instance, finished 19th on Friday and has already won in Saturday’s finish town. His XDS-Astana team can play multiple cards, including Lorenzo Fortunato (in the mountains jersey), Christian Scaroni, Diego Ulissi, and Nicola Conci.

The Kazakh squad won’t be the only ones targeting this stage. At UAE Emirates-XRG, Jay Vine has shown his eagerness for two days in a row, while strong climbers like Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) and Nicolas Prodhomme (Decathlon AG2R) have also launched attacks in this Giro. Team Jayco AlUla is expected to race aggressively as well, with riders like Paul Double, Filippo Zana, Koen Bouwman, and Luke Plapp.

If Primoz Roglic wants to give up the pink jersey, Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) could be a candidate to take it over. The Czech rider likely won’t play a role in the GC in Rome, but he has a strong team behind him, as they’ve already shown several times during this Giro. Assuming teams don’t let riders like Tom Pidcock (Q36.5) or certain UAE riders go up the road, other options include Mattia Cattaneo (Soudal Quick-Step) and Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech).

This stage might be a bit too hard for the strong sprinters — especially with Sassotetto in the mix — but Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) might pull something out of his hat. Others who could potentially survive the climbs and sprint for the win include Edoardo Zambanini (Bahrain Victorious), Stefano Oldani (Cofidis), Orluis Aular (Movistar), Filippo Fiorelli (VF Group-Bardiani), Andrea Vendrame (Decathlon AG2R), and Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech). The same question mark applies to Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike) after a few not so great days — perhaps Wilco Kelderman or Bart Lemmen will be the better cards to play.

If the stage turns chaotic, the GC men could still come to the fore. Friday taught us that Juan Ayuso and Isaac del Toro (UAE Emirates-XRG) are in excellent form, and that Egan Bernal (INEOS), Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious), Richard Carapaz (EF), and Max Poole (Picnic PostNL) are ready for a punchy finish.

Top favorites:Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) and Andrea Vendrame (Decathlon AG2R)
Outsiders: Wout Poels (XDS-Astana), Paul Double (Jayco AlUla), Filippo Fiorelli (VF Group-Bardiani), Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) and Mattia Cattaneo (Soudal Quick-Step)
Long shots: Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Tom Pidcock (Q36.5), Isaac del Toro (UAE Emirates-XRG), Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech), Wout van Aert, Wilco Kelderman (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Edoardo Zambanini (Bahrain Victorious)