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The ebb and flow of the 2025 Giro d’Italia continued after the stage 10 time trial, and the race is all the better for it. When the riders with a top 10 GC ambitions, which extended right down to Max Poole (Team Picnic PostNL) in 23rd at the start of the day, set off on their race against the clock, the stage victory was already sewn up by Dan Hoole (Lidl-Trek), having been fought out by the time trial specialists who avoided the Tuscan downpours. But that didn’t mean there wasn’t chopping and changing on the overall leaderboard. This was exemplified by the result of Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech), who rose eight spots on GC and now sits in 12th at 2:37 from the maglia rosa after spending most of the first 10 stages outside the top 25. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) and Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers), who have both been showing solid form so far, lost five and four places on the overall classification, respectively.
So, does this tight GC battle make for an exciting race? On Wednesday, most of the GC contenders had to battle the same wet and slippery conditions, so it was fair game. And thankfully, there weren’t any major issues, and so the GC battle has been kept a tight affair as the Giro enters its second half. This even race situation — with the top 10 separated by less than 2:30 — has benefited from not having Tadej Pogačar or Jonas Vingegaard on the startline, who at this point might have the maglia rosa sewn up. At the equivalent point last year, Pogačar’s lead on second place was 2:40.
The Giro organisers may want the likes of Pogačar and Vingegaard on their start line to bring superstar quality. The pair have lit up the Tour de France in recent years and undoubtedly have made it a more exciting race thanks to their exploits. But the Giro has struggled to live up to this same level of hype. When fans expect a nail-biting GC battle, they have often been left with nothing to chew on in recent Corsa Rosa history. But 2025 seems different. This edition could be one of the most exciting Giro’s for a number of years, harking back to three gloriously unpredictable — and memorable — editions between 2016, 2017, and 2018, when the winners (Vincenzo Nibali, Tom Dumoulin, Chris Froome) all won in intriguing ways.
What is perfect for the race is that the riders who like to attack, like Carapaz and Bernal, have time to make up. As does Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), the pre-race favourite, who has shown the form to contend, but things haven’t gone quite his way. Despite that, after the best time trial from the GC men today, the Slovenian sits 1:18 off the top spot. He’s been in a not dissimilar position before, fighting back from 26 seconds down to beat Geraint Thomas to overall victory on the stage 20 time trial in 2023. However, this time Roglič will need to make the mountains work for him, with no more kilometres against the clock remaining in this edition.
This Giro also has the added element that UAE are harbouring more than one GC threat, which adds to the intrigue. On the second rest day, Isaac del Toro and Juan Ayuso’s situation echoed Richard Carapaz and Mikel Landa’s dynamic at the 2019 Giro when the apparent leader (Landa) had to sit back and watch as his teammate won the overall.
Not only the personnel but the parcours of this Giro have kept things tight — fewer summit finishes, more punchy stages, shorter time trials and the inclusion of the strade bianche stage, has meant the Giro hasn’t been blown wide-open in its first half. But the route has also provided a good balance with enough challenging stages to form a hierarchy.
Back-loading a Grand Tour with an extremely hard final week in the mountains doesn’t always make for an exciting race. The aforementioned 2023 Giro was a close affair until the end, and, aside from the final mountain time trial, it often led to dull racing. Teams waiting for the final few kilometres of a summit finish before making a move, although it tactically makes sense, is not particularly engaging for fans. And without the superstars like Pogačar, who brings interest to races simply by being one of the best riders in history, or Vingegaard to seriously challenge him, then a Grand Tour relies on intrigue and suspense to keep people watching.
Like with the Tuscan gravel stage, the time trial into Pisa, in part due to the conditions, was not one to miss because of the potential implications on the GC. For some riders, the wet and treacherous time trial on stage 10 was a day to survive and not lose time. If the following stages continue to offer up aggressive racing and avoid becoming stalemates, organisers and fans alike will be kept captivated. As the Giro has shown so far, the maglia rosa is very much there for the taking.
