Participants Giro d'Italia 2025 | This is the provisional start list for the Giro d’Italia

The GC contenders have been preparing for the Giro d'Italia for months, so there should be few surprises. Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) and Juan Ayuso (UAE Emirates-XRG) are considered the top favorites in the absence of Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, and Remco Evenepoel, among others. Serious dark horses are also in the mix, with Simon Yates (Visma | Lease a Bike) and the INEOS Grenadiers duo Thymen Arensman and Egan Bernal.

Roglic and Ayuso could also face opposition from within their teams or even gain an advantage from them, as the Slovenian rider has Jai Hindley (winner in 2022) and Daniel Felipe Martinez (second last year) alongside him, while the Spaniard has Adam Yates, Isaac del Toro, and a few other strong riders at his disposal. There is certainly plenty of material for an interesting battle on that front! And then we haven't even mentioned guys like Michael Storer and Giulio Ciccone from the Tour of the Alps...

What about the sprinters? They're all here too. Visma | Lease a Bike with Olav Kooij and Wout van Aert, for example, although Lidl-Trek leader Mads Pedersen proved once again this spring that we'd better keep an eye on him too. As we always do, of course. Other riders include Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Sam Bennett (Decathlon AG2R), and Matteo Moschetti (Q36.5).

Van Aert and Pedersen are clear favorites regarding stage winners, but Q36.5 pioneer Tom Pidcock is also a contender. Let's not forget that Bauke Mollema (Lidl-Trek) and Wout Poels (XDS-Astana) could also complete their trilogy of stage wins in a Grand Tour.