The 2025 Giro d’Italia has already been a nervy affair with crashes, abandonments, and a neutralised finish. Before the race even reached Italian soil, still across the Adriatic Sea at the Albanian Grande Partenza, the race lost an overall contender — a matter of hours into the 21-day race, Mikel Landa was on the deck after a crash which resulted in a fractured vertebra. On stage six, there was more bad luck for some, as a huge crash brought down most of the peloton and the outcome left Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) without a key domestique in Jai Hindley, who was forced to abandon.
It seems to be the way modern Grand Tours play out — the first week is full of pitfalls because all the riders are still fresh, meaning there are more of them able to get to the front, and there are not as many challenges to reduce the bunch down to a smaller and safer group. The stages often finish in big towns and cities with roads littered with bollards, roundabouts, narrowings and other such obstacles.
Read more: Neutralisations, protests and lopsided lead-outs - It's bedlam at the Giro d'Italia
For most GC contenders week one is about survival and not losing time. So it will come as some relief for the overall contenders that the Giro is beginning to navigate north and the roads start to tilt upwards as we approach the Alps, where the peloton will be thinned out and the crash risk reduced. After some week one chaos, race director Mauro Vegni may be sharing this sense of relief, although in reality, with the prospect of adverse weather conditions wreaking havoc on the high alpine passes, he won’t be resting easy.
But before the race arrives in the Alps, the peloton has to contend with what could be the most chaotic stage of them all: stage nine over Tuscany’s strade bianche — gravel roads. Unlike in the mountains, where teams know the abilities of their riders and can base their stage plans around that, gravel stages are more of an unknown. Crashes, splits, punctures and other mechanicals are more common and on top of that, the team cars could be minutes behind. Having a team capable of sheltering, pacing, fetching gels and bottles for the leaders and also offering a bike swap if needed, is more important than ever. We take a look at how the teams of the top GC contenders are looking ahead of Sunday’s danger stage.
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe
Primož Roglič is in the best position out of all the GC contenders – third overall – after a strong time trial on stage two and not missing out on any splits. However, the loss of Hindley has deprived Roglič not only of his mountain lieutenant but also a secondary GC threat for the Red Bull squad. Hindley will be a big loss to Roglič as the Giro enters its latter stages in the Alps, but in terms of the gravel of Tuscany, he should have enough support around him with the likes of Nico Denz, Jan Tratnik, and Gianni Moscon.
Gianni Moscon leading Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe on stage seven (Image: RCS)
The latter two have been invaluable in their service for others throughout their careers in races like the Giro’s gravel stage, and were both signed by the team this winter with the aim to support Roglič over these kinds of parcours. Despite the disappointment of losing Hindley, the squad still have Giulio Pellizzari in the top 15, and although the focus will be on helping Roglič, if they can, they would like to keep the young Italian in a good GC position for later in the race.
Read more: How does the loss of Jai Hindley affect Primož Roglič's Giro d'Italia bid?
UAE Team Emirates-XRG
Despite being behind Roglič on the GC, the UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad lines up in a strong position for the Tuscan strade bianche, with leader Juan Ayuso supported by a full roster of talent, including Adam Yates, Brandon McNulty, and Isaac del Toro, who are all still high up on the overall classification. However, they may come into trouble on Sunday due to a lack of rouleurs in their squad, with Filippo Baroncini their only rider weighing more than 70kg, which might mean keeping that number of riders high up on GC will be a challenge.
Juan Ayuso after winning stage seven of the Giro (Image: RCS)
Their team tactics and loyalty to one another could be tested on Sunday, as some riders could be left isolated or told to fall into line. Keeping several riders high up can be beneficial, but it also means other teams won’t allow them to get into the day’s break to act as satellite riders for Ayuso later in the stage and on parcours like Sunday’s, this could backfire.
EF Education-EasyPost
On the opposite end of the spectrum sit EF Education-EasyPost and their sole leader Richard Carapaz, whose team are fully behind him in his bid to win a second maglia rosa. He is supported by Tour of Flanders winner Kasper Asgreen, rouleurs Owain Doull and Mikkel Honoré and 2024 Giro stage winner Georg Steinhauser. Ever the aggressor, Carapaz could even use the stage to attack and gain time. Given his track record, he is more likely to do so than Roglič or Ayuso, who will also be keeping a close eye on each other. EF may look to get one of their bigger riders in the day’s break to be a satellite rider for Carapaz later in the stage. They are a team known for their aggressive racing style, and in the Ecuadorian they have the perfect rider to try and catch his opponents napping.
Kasper Asgreen is a key domestique for Richard Carapaz (Image: Zac Williams / SWpix.com)
Read more: Richard Carapaz returns to the Giro d'Italia as a former winner — and an underdog
Visma-Lease a Bike
Like EF, Visma-Lease a Bike have one option for GC in Simon Yates, who is racing his first Grand Tour for the squad after joining them this winter. On paper, they have the strongest squad for the gravel stage with Strade Bianche winner Wout van Aert, Paris-Roubaix winner Dylan van Baarle, and workhorses Edoardo Affini and Wilco Kelderman among their ranks. The team have struggled for results so far this season, but like EF, could attempt to launch an assault on the GC over the gravel of Tuscany. Van Aert, Van Baarle, Affini and Kelderman should be able to stay in the front group deep into the stage to help Yates. But alternatively, they could also go for the stage win and be allowed to go in the break. This could perhaps result in a dilemma because the team is starved for wins, so will they risk Yates’s GC challenge by allowing some of their Classics men to go for stage victory?
Wout van Aert on stage four of the Giro d'Italia (Image: Zac Williams / SWpix.com)
Ineos Grenadiers
One team that will be licking its lips at the prospect of a Grand Tour gravel stage is Ineos Grenadiers. They have brought a team of naturally aggressive riders in Josh Tarling, Ben Turner and most importantly, their GC man Egan Bernal, who has finished on the podium of Strade Bianche and is a proven performer over gravel parcours. When he won the Giro in 2021, Bernal was the best GC rider on the gravel stage to Montalcino, putting almost 30 seconds into eventual second and third-place finishers, Damiano Caruso and Simon Yates. It’s yet to be seen if the Colombian is back in that kind of shape following a difficult few years of setbacks following a life-threatening crash in January 2022. If Bernal feels up for it and puts his team to work, they could cause havoc on the stage.
Bernal crossing the line on stage seven of the Giro (Image: Getty)
Other GC teams
Sunday perhaps poses the biggest risk of the whole Giro for GC darkhorse Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling Team), who is a bit of an unknown entity when it comes to stages like the gravel one facing the peloton on Sunday. Max Poole (Team Picnic PostNL) will be hoping to perform well and stay within touching distance of the overall contenders.
Gravel stages pose risks to GC challenges at Grand Tours. Teams will be on edge all day, but the challenge is clear — get through this and things should become less chaotic.
