Preview Giro dell'Emilia 2025 | Non-European Championship riders could benefit from Pogacar’s absence

In this article:

2024 Tadej Pogacar
2023 Primoz Roglic
2022 Enric Mas
2021 Primoz Roglic
2020 Aleksandr Vlasov
2019 Primoz Roglic
2018 Alessandro De Marchi
2017 Giovanni Visconti
2016 Esteban Chaves
2015 Jan Bakelants

The course of the Tour of Emilia is a familiar one. This year, the final stage will follow the old blueprint, although the first half will be quite different. Last year, the riders had to cover 2015 kilometers; now, ‘only’ 199 kilometers. The start, heading south, is entirely flat, and it is only after 74 kilometers that the first climb appears on the path in San Lorenzo in Collina (5.6 km at 3.5%).

Rapidly following that is the Mongardino (2.1 km at 6.9%), but the Monzuno is really serious. It is located roughly halfway through the race and is 9.1 kilometers long. With an average gradient of 5.2%, it does not seem steep, but it is unpredictable. A long descent follows this, after which the route turns north again, heading towards the finish in Bologna.

Just before entering the beautiful capital of Emilia-Romagna, the riders tackle the difficult Montechiaro (3.3 km at 9.1%), but after that, it will be a climb on the famous local circuit. The climb to San Luca is well known and a real calf burner. 2.1 kilometers and 9.6% on average, but with the first 1.5 kilometers climbing at 11% and maximum gradients of up to 20%: the five passages are sure to take their toll!

Times
Start: 10:25 AM local time (04:25 AM EDT)
Finish: around 2:55 PM local time (08:55 AM EDT)

On Sunday, the weather in Bologna is expected to be moderate, with a fair amount of precipitation. Fortunately, races in Italy almost always take place on Saturdays, as is the case with the Giro dell'Emilia. It will be mild, but not cold, with temperatures ranging from 15 to 19 degrees Celsius. No rain and a gentle breeze: perfect racing weather in the fall!

Last year, Tadej Pogacar was by far the best, but the world champion is in France for the European cycling championships. The same goes for Remco Evenepoel: does that mean we can look forward to an open race? It seems so, although it must be said that Isaac Del Toro (UAE Emirates-XRG) has been the man to beat in the Italian autumn so far, with no fewer than four victories.

The young Mexican also has the support of Jay Vine, Pavel Sivakov, and Adam Yates: three names that could make a big impression on a good day. Once again, a strong UAE block, but where does the competition come from? There is plenty. Just look at EF Education-EasyPost, where they can target several men, but where Richard Carapaz, Neilson Powless, who finished fourth in Montreal, and Ben Healy, who was third at the World Championships in Rwanda, are the main contenders.

However, several teams at the start could use different leaders. INEOS Grenadiers, for example, has Thymen Arensman and Egan Bernal, while Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe has Jai Hindley and Primoz Roglic. The Slovenian has already won the race three times, and teammate Aleksandr Vlasov has also been the best in Bologna once: based on experience, that team has an edge!

Picnic PostNL has two dangerous contenders in the British riders Oscar Onley and Max Poole, while Visma | Lease a Bike is mainly focusing on Ben Tulett, Thomas Gloag, and Cian Uijtdebroeks. Michael Storer and Julian Alaphilippe are the designated leaders at Tudor, and Jayco AlUla can count on Ben O'Connor and Eddie Dunbar. Bahrain Victorious also has several key riders, with Lenny Martinez, Pello Bilbao, Afonso Eulálio, and Antonio Tiberi.

Then there are many outsiders. Tom Pidcock (Q36.5) is there, as is Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek). Soudal Quick-Step starts with Mikel Landa, and Uno-X Mobility has a dangerous contender in Tobias Halland Johannessen. David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) impressed in the Vuelta with his explosiveness; so, write it down.

Top favorite: Isaac Del Toro (UAE Emirates-XRG)
Outsiders: Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Oscar Onley (Picnic PostNL), Tom Pidcock (Q36.5) and Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek)
Long-shots: Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), Thymen Arensman (INEOS Grenadiers), Jai Hindley (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Cian Uijtdebroeks (Visma | Lease a Bike), Michael Storer (Tudor), Ben O'Connor (Jayco AlUla), Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) and David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ)

To follow the race live from Italy, tune in to HBO Max at 2:10 PM local time. With the European Cycling Championships taking place in France, this is the only way to get live coverage.