Date: Sunday, May 11, 2025
Distance: 160km
Start location: Vlorë (Albania)
Finish location: Vlorë (Albania)
Start time: 13:15 CEST
Finish time: 17:14 CEST
While tourists might visit the city of Vlorë for its spectacular beaches, and the economy is based around its seaport overlooking the Adriatic Sea, for patriotic Albanians, it is renowned for being the birthplace of their nation. On November 28, 1912, 40 delegates assembled here to sign the nation’s declaration of independence from the Ottoman Empire that had ruled over them for several centuries.
Vlorë had for some time already been the focal point for the Albanian Renaissance, during which a sense of national Albanian identity was established, and now hosts many monuments to their independence. The building where the declaration was signed has been made into a Museum of Independence, while a moment depicting the first Prime Minister Ismail Qemali stands at the centre of the city’s central Flag’s Plaza, which is also near where the first Albanian government, established in 1913, was housed.
The Albanian revolt wasn’t the only independence movement to take place at this time against the Ottoman Empire, as many neighbouring states also sensed a weakness in the regime, initiating what would become known as the First Balkan War. One particularly significant battle, the Himara revolt of 1912, took place not far south of Vlorë at the Llogara mountain pass, where Greek forces overthrew the occupying Ottomans.
Today, that same Llogara Pass will be the decisive landmark of the Giro d'Italia's third and final stage in Albania. This is a tough day, riding gradually uphill for the first 65km, and featuring roads that continue to undulate after that, but it’s the Llogara climb where the stage will ignite. Its rank of category two does not do it justice — averaging 7.4% for 10.7km, it is a proper mountain, and one that will give us a first glimpse of how all the main pink jersey contenders are climbing.
One thing that might put off the GC contenders from overcommitting, however, is the considerable distance between the summit of the climb to the finish. After reaching the summit, the riders will descend for about 20km, then navigate another 20km of flat roads before arriving back in Vlorë for the finish. While some GC contenders may sense a chance to gain time over rivals who prefer to only gradually come into form at a Grand Tour, the more conservative outlook would be that this extra 40km from the summit to the finish would require too much effort to be worth preserving with, and too much of a possibility for dropped riders to return.
Whether the stage will be contested by a small elite group of favourites or a larger group featuring some all-rounders who can both climb and sprint will be dependent on how bold their approach is, while the fast downhill provides a chance for skilled descenders to slip away for glory.
Contenders
Stage three could be the first chance for a breakaway to have success at this year’s Giro d’Italia. The punchy route takes in 2800 metres of elevation gain with the opening part of the day constantly undulating which makes it prime terrain for attacks to establish a strong group. With Primož Roglič in the race lead already after stage two’s time trial, it could be that Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe are happy to relinquish the general classification lead to someone else which further helps the chances of the break – there is still a long way to go in this Giro.
The fact that this stage comes so early in the race makes it a tough one to predict – we don’t know who is feeling good enough to try their luck and the antagonists in the 2025 edition of La Corsa Rosa are yet to establish themselves. However, teams without a main GC rider are likely to give it a go, namely Team Jayco AlUla who have an Italian hopeful in Filippo Zana who is well-suited to stages like this. His teammate, Koen Bouwman is another rider who likes to get in the break, so the Australian team have a couple of options when it comes to stage three.EF Education-EasyPost are another team who are going to race the Giro aggressively and their young German talent, Georg Steinhauser, could be one to watch on stage three. He won a stage in the 2024 edition of the Giro and had two third place finishes by getting in breakaways. XDS Astana Team is also without a GC leader and Wout Poels could go for a move in stage three, as could his teammate Davide Formolo.
Alarm bells will be ringing for Team Picnic PostNL who are currently at risk of being relegated out of the WorldTour this season – a stage win at this Giro could transform their season. British rider Max Poole will like the parcours of stage three, as well Gijs Leemreize who is another option for the Dutch squad. Israel-Premier Tech are known to be in the mix on breakaway days, so keep an eye on their Italian rider, Marco Frigo, on stage three – he has been close to a stage win at the Giro before when he finished in third place at the 2023 edition of the race. Tudor Pro Cycling are another ProTeam team who will want to make the most of their wildcard spot at the Giro d’Italia, and Florian Stork might be the rider that the Swiss team send in the break on stage three.
Prediction
This is an especially tough stage to predict, but we’re backing Picnic PostNL to turn their season around with a Gijs Leemreize win.
