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Monday, May 12, 2025

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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia

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Current racing:

• May 9 - June 1: Giro d'Italia

Upcoming racing:

• May 13: Classique Dunkerque
• May 14 - 18: 4 Jours de Dunkerque
• May 17: Veenendaal - Veenendaal Cancelled
• May 18: Rund um Köln

Latest completed racing:

• May 11: Tro-Bro Léon
• May 10: GP du Morbihan
• May 9: Tour du Finistère
• April 27 - May 4: Tour of Turkey
• April 29 - May 4: Tour de Romandie
• May 1: Rund um den Finanzplaz Eschborn-Frankfurt
• April 27: Liège-Bastogne-Liège
• April 24 - 27: Vuelta Asturias
• April 21 - 25: Tour of the Alps
• April 23: La Flèche Wallonne
• April 20: Amstel Gold Race
• April 20: Tour du Doubs
• April 15 - 18: Giro d'Abruzzo
• April 18: De Brabantse Pijl

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Giro d'Italia stage three news

We posted the report from stage winner Mads Pedersen's Team Lidl-Trek with the results.

Here's the Giro stage three report from second-place Corbin Strong's Team Israel-Premier Tech:

Corbin Strong came close to taking his first-ever Grand Tour stage victory as he finished second in the reduced bunch sprint in Vlorë on stage 3 of the Giro d’Italia.

“It was a close sprint. I’ve always had confidence that I can take it to these guys in the sprint if I have a good run, and today I had a lot of confidence after stage one,” Strong explained after the finish.

Corbin Strong (just to right of winner Mads Pedersen) came close. Sirotti photo

With nearly 3,000 meters of elevation, it was never a sure thing that today’s stage would finish in a bunch sprint. Especially the long Qafa e Llogarasë climb of 10.5 km with an average gradient of 7.5% proved challenging for the fast riders to get over. Strong, too, suffered on the final part of the climb, but thanks to impeccable help from teammate Jakob Fuglsang, he managed to get back to the reduced front group in time.

“I had to fight a lot on the climb and I dropped just before the top. It took a little longer to come back on these roads, but thankfully Jakob was there with me. For sure, it took out a bit of energy to chase back, but when I was chasing back on, I knew I had good legs as I felt really strong.”

In the final kilometers, Strong did well to get in the wheel of stage one winner Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek). The two went head-to-head in a fierce sprint, but despite an impressive effort, Strong had to settle for second place on the line.

“The season hasn’t gone the way I wanted it to, so I was hoping I was going to bounce back with a big win, but yeah, close but no cigar. We’ve got a really nice team here, and I think we can take confidence from today and hope we can achieve some stage wins later on,” Strong said.

Team leader Derek Gee finished in the front group as well, together with Jan Hirt and Marco Frigo, while Fuglsang crossed the line shortly after, following his big effort bringing Strong back earlier on.

IPT sports director, Sam Bewley, praised the teamwork and the impressive finish from Strong.

“We knew today could be a tricky stage and that it was more demanding than it looked on paper. It was going to be important to execute in a few different areas and today the guys were great across the board. Corbin showed some real fight today to produce a brilliant second place. It’s always a bummer to be so close to a win but the guys should also be proud of their execution and the result.”

On Monday, the peloton will leave Albania after three demanding stages before the Giro d’Italia continues in Italy with another sprint stage on Tuesday.

Here's the Giro report from fourth-place Brandon Rivera's Team INEOS Grenadiers:

Brandon Rivera unleashed an impressive turn of speed to sprint to fourth place on stage three of the Giro d'Italia.

The Colombian rode superbly on the run into Vlore, helping to position teammate Egan Bernal, before surfing the wheels and launching a fantastic sprint.

Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) won the sprint to move back into the maglia rosa on the race's third and final day in Albania.

Stage three gets rolling. Sirotti photo

Bernal and Thymen Arensman were protected well on a day which featured the tough second-category Qafa e Llogarase climb.

Bernal moved up to 21st place overall, 57 seconds back on Pedersen, as the race prepares to head back to Italian soil.

The day was also notable as Josh Tarling went on the attack early as part of a six-man breakaway. 24 hours after his stage-winning heroics on the TT bike, the Welshman forged on up the road in the opening kilometres, yet the move's advantage was pegged at three minutes by the bunch.

Here's the Giro d'Italia stage three report from fifth-place Edoardo Zambanini's Team Bahrain Victorious:

The third stage of the 108th Giro d’Italia took the riders on a 160km loop around the Western Albanian coastal city of Vlorë.

It was expected to be an unpredictable day, although the most likely ending was a group sprint, and that is how it turned out Lidl Trek’s Mads Padersen took a second victory and regained the ‘Maglia Rosa’.

For Bahrain Victorious, it was an excellent day’s work all round. Not for the first time this week, meticulous preparation from team staff in the face of very limited information allowed our riders to execute their objectives flawlessly in an increasingly nervy peloton.

The flag gets waved and stage three is on. RCS Sport photo

Sports Director Gorazd Štangelj emphasised how well the group executed the strategy:

“The boys did the job throughout the stage as we planned; actually even better. We knew it was going to be a dangerous stage, so to stay out of trouble we needed to invest a lot with positioning and being in the front. We got good information from our recon car about where the danger points were, so we moved to the front in every single section where we needed to.”

Having kept themselves prominent but safe all day, Pello Bilbao was one of the instigators of a strong two-man move that caught the day’s breakaway with 42km remaining. He and Lorenzo Fortunato (XAT) put in a sterling effort, but were caught 19km from the line once the sprinters’ teams put the hammer down behind. Soon afterwards Damiano Caruso put himself in the wind at the front of the bunch, pulling leader Antonio Tiberi behind him and ensuring the 23 year old faced no nasty suprprises in the most technical part of the course. The strategy worked perfectly, and both Italians – along with Bilbao – finished in the main group, safe and sound.

Štangelj goes into further detail:
“The attack with Pello happened just because the original breakjaway was so close and suddenly the peloton slowed slightly on the climb. Some riders went, and Pello joined Fortunato who wanted the KoM jersey. Unfortunately they were only two over the climb. If it had been five or more they would have had a chance to dream but on the wide roads it wasn’t easy for them in front. But even when we caught them, Pello still helped out a lot with Damiano and Antonio.

On the way to the start this morning we noticed a critical point, so Damiano made a nice move to bring Antonio to the safest place on that corner.

With his main job done for the day, and his leaders defended, Edoardo Zambanini took the opportunity to sprint at the stage end, crossing the line in fifth place, a Giro career-best for the Italian who hails from Trentino-Alto Adige. The result was a great final effort from a young climber who puts everything on the line for his teammates day after day, believes Štangelj.

“Zamba also did a great job today protecting and positioning Antonio, and then when it came to the sprint he had the chance to go for it. I would say he did his best sprint of the season. Super job.”

The entire Giro cavalcade now crosses the Adriatic Sea to the homeland for another flat stage on Tuesday. The time in Albania has been both revealing and challenging in equal measure, but overall more than satisfactory from a Bahrain Victorious point of view.

“We are happy to finish these 3 days here in Albania in the way that we have,” continues Štangelj. “Now we move to Italy to start again the day after tomorrow.”

Once on the mainland, the real business of Giro 2025 begins, with 189km from Alberobello to Lecce. We travel to Italy with one seventh of the race completed, and Tiberi lying 8th on GC, just 34 seconds down on the pink jersey.

Here's the Giro report from the new King of the Mountains Lorenzo Fortunato's Team XDS Astana:

After the third stage, which finished in the Albanian city of Vlorë, XDS Astana Team rider Lorenzo Fortunato took the lead in the Giro d’Italia’s mountains classification and claimed the blue jersey.

Fortunato launched an attack on the final climb of the day, the Qafa e Llogarasë, securing the maximum number of points at the summit. He continued the attack on the descent alongside Spanish rider Pello Bilbao, gaining a gap of about 55 seconds over the main group. However, this breakaway was neutralized with 18 kilometers to go.

The stage ended in a sprint, with Christian Scaroni finishing 9th and Diego Ulissi taking 12th. Lorenzo Fortunato crossed the line in the peloton.

New KOM Lorenzo Fortunato. Photo: Sprint Cycling

"I planned to attack on the final climb to score mountain points. At the summit, only Bilbao and I remained, and I took the maximum, which earned me the blue jersey. With 55 seconds of advantage, we decided to try and go for the stage win. We descended well, but on the flat, we faced a strong headwind and a wide road, and it became clear we had little chance. We did our best, but the peloton caught us. I’m happy to wear the blue jersey, and it’ll be a pleasure to start the next stage in Italy wearing it. In any case, our main goal remains fighting for stage victories, while the mountain classification is secondary for now”, – said Lorenzo Fortunato.

Here's the Giro stage three report from Wout van Aert's Team Visma | Lease a Bike:

The Albanian opening weekend of the Giro d’Italia is over. Team Visma | Lease a Bike didn’t play a significant role in the third stage. After a tense finale, Mads Pedersen won the sprint from a reduced peloton.

The climax of the Giro d’Italia’s opening weekend was the 160-kilometre stage that started and finished in Vlorë. The key point of the final stage on Albanian soil was the climb of the Qafa e Llogarasë. The summit of the climb was around forty kilometres from the finish line. 

A group of six riders formed the breakaway of the day, but they were never given much breathing room. On the Qafa e Llogarasë, Lidl-Trek took control of the peloton. Several sprinters, including Wout van Aert, were dropped. The reduced peloton then descended towards the finish. After a nervous final stretch, Pedersen sprinted to the stage win. 

Wout van Aert at the team's presentation ceremony before the start of stage three. Sirotti photo

“We had hoped Wout would make it over the climb, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case,” Bart Lemmen said afterwards. “Before the climb, he had already told us he didn’t have the legs to compete for the win today. After that, our focus shifted to finishing safely and protecting Simon Yates as best we could in the hectic finale. That went smoothly.” 

Tomorrow is a rest day. The teams will transfer to Italy, something Van Aert is looking forward to. “Today I chose not to push myself because I quickly felt that I didn’t have the good legs. That’s not surprising. My second place in the opening stage was better than expected, but both yesterday and today, I lacked that top feeling. I’m looking forward to growing step by step in the coming weeks.”

And here's the Giro report from Team Soudal Quick-Step:

The last leg of the Albanian Grande Partenza was a pretty quiet one, despite the roads around Vlorë comprising two hard climbs that on paper opened the door to attacks. After a fast and intense start to the stage, five men booked a place in what became the day’s breakaway, one that managed to build a maximum gap of around three minutes.

Soudal Quick-Step rider Josef Cerny riding the stage two time trial. Sirotti photo

The peloton did their homework and easily reeled in the quintet, while at the same time dispatching all the sprinters on the steep gradients of the Qafa e Llogarase climb. No real moves came there, which means the bunch continued together on the descent taking to the finish, where Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) prevailed from a reduced sprint, moving back into the pink jersey.

Gianmarco Garofoli, who is racing the Giro d’Italia for the first time in his career, came really close to a top ten, finishing the third stage in 11th position, three places ahead of Soudal Quick-Step teammate Mattia Cattaneo, who remained our team’s highest-ranked rider in the general classification.

Tro-Bro Léon reports

We posted the report from winner Bastien Tronchon's Team Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale with the results.

Here's the report from third-place Valentin Madouas' Team Groupama-FDJ:

In a 2025 edition of the Tro Bro Léon made quite harsh by the weather conditions, Valentin Madouas experienced quite a race for his first participation in the “Hell of the West”. Nevertheless, the Breton rider left his mark on the event, fighting up front on Brittany’s dirty roads until the final in Lannilis. Although he came up short for the win in the final five kilometres, the former French champion still secured a fine podium finish in front of his home crowd.

The Tro-Bro Léon peloton racing across Brittany.

If the twenty-nine “gravel sectors” weren’t enough, the weather decided to make it even harder for the riders on Sunday for the 42nd edition of the Tro Bro Leon. The rain indeed followed the peloton from the start and almost never stopped, making the “dirty roads” more dangerous and selective than expected. Given the race conditions, many wanted to anticipate the big fight, and the battle for the breakaway therefore lasted for nearly forty kilometers.

In the end, seven riders managed to go clear, including Rudy Molard! “We thought it would be good if he was in front in case a group of five or six broke away,” explained Yvon Caër. “We know he’s good on such a long race, and he could have gone very far. He could have been a support up front while making sure we didn’t have to pull behind. It was a really good move.” The leading group then gained an advantage of around four minutes, while the peloton was already splitting into several pieces by the halfway point.

Unfortunately, shortly after sector number 19, Groupama-FDJ suffered two setbacks. Rudy Molard was dropped from the breakaway following a puncture, and Valentin Madouas experienced the same incident in the pack. “I really think it was the worst time to puncture with all the splits,” said the Breton. “It was also the moment we wanted to make it hard with the team. Until then, I felt really good, I hadn’t made any mistakes, and I was always well positioned. I had to use a lot of energy to overtake all the groups and get back into the peloton. I then changed wheels again because I had first taken a wheel from the neutral service.”

The Frenchman therefore had to make two hard chases in a row, but still made it through the first selection in the peloton with Lewis Askey, Clément Russo, Olivier Le Gac, and Eddy Le Huitouze with about sixty kilometres to go. Shortly after, a pack of about fifty riders crossed the line in Lannilis, just a minute behind a leading duo, but Groupama-FDJ opened up the race again in sector number 11, forty kilometers from the finish line.

Clément Russo made a strong attack, but unfortunately found himself on the ground a few moments later. He was unable to remain up front, but his acceleration caused a split in the peloton, and a dozen riders escaped, including Valentin Madouas and Lewis Askey. This group worked together to hold off the rest of the pack, and then the attacks started with about twenty-five kilometres remaining. The former French champion followed some, made a few counterattacks himself, but Fredrik Dversnes eventually managed to break away on his own just before the last twenty kilometres.

In pursuit, the cooperation proved less effective, and the Norwegian was able to enter the last ten kilometres with a thirty-second margin. Lewis Askey then took the lead before the penultimate sector, in Keradraon. “I still believed in victory because I still had energy left,” said Valentin. “I knew there was a chance of coming back.” The Breton took things in hand himself to close some of the gap in the first half of the sector, then in the second, uphill part, hung on to the wheel of Bastien Tronchon, Pierre Gautherat, and Anthony Turgis. At the top of the climb, with six kilometres to go, he just lacked a little something to keep up with the first two competitors. “The bullet I used after my puncture cost me in the final,” he said. “It’s the metre I’m missing to get to the top of the hill on their wheels.”

From then on, the winning move went without him. Fredrik Dversnes crashed after being caught by Tronchon and Gautherat, who finished first and second respectively. Twenty seconds later, Valentin Madouas, however, outsprinted Anthony Turgis for the last available spot on the podium. “I’m obviously a bit disappointed because I wasn’t there at all to take third,” he said. “It was a hell of a race, but I was hoping for this weather. It was an advantage to know the course, and the race was harder this way. I think everything came together, or almost. I was a bit short of luck. Yet, it was a first experience for me, and I’ll come back.” “We were aiming for victory, but we don’t really have any regrets,” concluded Yvon Caër. “We had our share of bad luck, but so did the other teams. The only regret I have is Clément’s crash, which cost him his place alongside Lewis and Val. Tronchon put on a good race and deserved his victory. It came down to details, but we’re still happy that Valentin finished third. Although he’s done almost all the Classics, he was still in good condition to perform as he did today.”

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