Simon Yates pulled the pink jersey from the shoulders of Isaac Del Toro and jumped over Richard Carapaz in the penultimate stage of the Giro d’Italia and raced into Rome for the final overall victory – All the stage reports, videos, results and what the riders think from Italy.
TOP STORY:
- In the Visma | Lease a Bike team car on stage 20
Rider news:
- ‘Passionate cycling audience’ in Mexico for Isaac Del Toro
- Mexican president following the pink hero, Isaac Del Toro
- Remco Evenepoel wins prize for safety campaign: “I would rather have done it without an accident”
- Tom Dumoulin sees reconnaissance Unbound Gravel end ‘very badly’
- David Dekker out of action for a long time
- 40-year-old Jakob Fuglsang to retired on Sunday
- Mathieu van der Poel Training in Spain Without a Wrist Brace
- Primoz Roglič’s family robbed during Giro visit
- Adam Blythe interrupts broadcast for ‘selfie’ with Wout van Aert
- Lance Armstrong uses seven yellow jerseys for beer commercial
Team news:
- Visma | Lease a Bike: “Jonas Vingegaard will be better in three weeks”
- Gianmarco Garofoli extends with Soudal Quick-Step
- Pietro Mattio steps up from Visma | Lease a Bike Development Team to WorldTeam
Race news:
- 2026 Vuelta a España to have final four days on the Canary Islands and finish on Teide
- Pogačar, Vingegaard and Evenepoel in a three-way standoff in the Critérium du Dauphiné
Plus:
- The sad news that Ludo Dierckxsens passed away on Thursday
TOP STORY: In the Visma | Lease a Bike Team Car on Stage 20
Simon Yates looked as though he would be happy with third place and the bottom step of the podium in the overall classification after stage 19 to Champoluc, but the Visma | Lease a Bike rider successfully took the Giro lead with a powerful solo over the Colle delle Finestre. This was all thanks to a perfectly thought-out strategy by his Visma | Lease a Bike team.
In a video by Velon we see how the Dutch team manages to guide Yates to the pink jersey in the stage to Sestrière. After a successful attack on the Colle delle Finestre, the British rider was assisted by Wout van Aert on the descent and flatter kilometres to the base of the final climb. The Belgian was part of a large early break, then made a big contribution as a ‘game-changer’, after which it was up to Yates to finish the job off. The 32-year-old Belgian ‘Super-Hero’ rode himself to a standstill for his leader and the eventual overall winner of the 2025 Giro d’Italia.
Team manager Marc Reef was ecstatic after the day’s action: “We had a good plan ready, with Wout in the breakaway. Or at least someone in the breakaway,” he told Eurosport. “We were perhaps a bit lucky that the difference became so big, which created the chance that Wout would come over the Finestre. If Simon had the legs, Wout could be of great added value.”
“Simon has been talking about this particular stage since the winter. Everyone knows what happened in 2018,” Reef was talking about Yates’ collapse while in the pink jersey in the stage over the Colle delle Finestre. “He really wanted to show it here. He did.”
The Visma team were well behind Yates’ win:
Giro d’Italia 2025
Nico Denz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) won his third Giro d’Italia. The German won twice in the 2023 Giro and today won stage 18. He was part of a large ‘break of the day’ and then escaped with ten other riders before going solo for the win. Mirco Maestri (Polti VisitMalta) and Edward Planckaert (Alpecin-Deceuninck) were second and third at one minute. Isaac Del Toro (UAE Emirates XRG) held the overall lead.
If there are any sprinters left in the 2025 Giro d’Italia, they have the chance of a win today. The middle of the stage is difficult with the last climbs of the Alps, but the finale is made for the fast-men. It’s also a short stage of only 144 kilometres. The start is in Morbegno, in the Lombardy Bitto Valley and is famous for its cheese. The peloton follows the shores of Lake Como, before three climbs of the Parlasco (Cat 2), Colle Balisio (Cat 3) and Ravellino (Cat 3). These climbs shouldn’t be a problem for the fast-men on the road to Cesano Maderno, where the Giro has held the final time trial in 1979 and 2008.
Many riders tried to get away as soon as the flag dropped. Enzo Paleni was the first to attack, then Taco van der Hoorn, Daan Hoole and Mads Pedersen made a move. Before the Parlasco, a leading group of 36 riders got together, including Hoole and Pedersen. Mathias Vacek and Wout van Aert were also there, as were Dylan van Baarle, Rick Pluimers, Dries De Bondt, Fabio Van den Bossche and Edward Planckaert. The two Belgians of Alpecin-Deceuninck worked hard on the front of the big break for their sprinter, Kaden Groves. Christian Scaroni was also in the break and was second in the KOM classification, he was the first over the top of the Parlasco. At the start of the climb, pre-race favourite, Juan Ayuso (UAE Emirates-XRG), had to abandon. The Spaniard was stung by a bee yesterday on stage 17 and had a swollen eye, he had to abandon after a couple of kilometres of climbing.
After Scaroni took the mountain points, purple jersey wearer Pedersen took the points after a battle with De Bondt at the first intermediate sprint. The Dane would also beat the Belgian at the second intermediate sprint. They continued their move for a while with Davide De Pretto (Jayco AlUla), but were caught soon after. Scaroni was again first the top of the Ravellino at the top of the Colle Balisio, consolidating his second place behind Fortunato in the KOM classification. The difference between the leading group and the peloton, which at first was close, started to grow. With 60 kilometres to go, the lead went over 9 minutes. The winner would come from the break. Q36.5 started to work at the front, according to Radio Corsa this was at the request of the Giro organisers, so that the peloton would not be caught by the leading group on the final circuit.
Manuele Tarozzi (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè) attacked through the Red Bull kilometre, 58 kilometres from the finish. He was joined by his teammate Martin Marcellusi and Rémy Rochas (Groupama-FDJ). The three gained more than 40 seconds on the others in the break. The chasers didn’t sit back. Several attacks followed, which brought the pace back up and there was almost ha regrouping with 40 kilometres to go. Rochas and Marcelussi were caught, but Tarozzi pushed on. Although, a few kilometres later he was also pulled in. Nine rider then tried to get away, including Van Baarle, Hoole, De Bondt, Planckaert, Denz, Alexander Edmondson, De Pretto, Mirco Maestri, Larry Warbasse, Filippo Magli and Nicola Conci, so there were now 11 riders off the front. They quickly gained 1:30 on the pursuers.
The chasing group with Van Aert, Pedersen and Vacek couldn’t do anything about the escapees. With 25 kilometres to go, it was obvious that these eleven would fight it out for the stage win. Nico Denz increased the pace with 18 kilometres to go and then put the hammer down through a bend and created a gap. The German of Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe had 30 seconds with 10 kilometres to go. In the kilometres that followed, the pursuers were unable to make up any ground. Denz even extended his lead and was able to celebrate well before the finish line. This was his third Giro stage win, after two victories in 2023. In the sprint for second place, Mirco Maestri was the fastest, ahead of Edward Planckaert. The peloton came in some time later and there was no change in the overall competition.
# You can see more photos in the full ‘PEZ Stage Report’ HERE. #
Stage winner Nico Denz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe): “My grand parents were living in the beautiful Basilicata in the south of Italy, so I have a special connection with this country and the Giro. I always enjoy to be here. For my three stage wins, I spent energy but I felt more emotional when I crossed the line today after all the setbacks we had, losing Primoz [Roglič], Jai [Hindley]… This is just fantastic for me. I rejoined the breakaway of the breakaway as I knew it wouldn’t be the right group for me to stay with the teams that had fast guys, Lidl-Trek, Visma-lease a Bike, Alpecin-Deceuninck… Before I attacked with 19km to go, I felt that the group wasn’t working well anymore. Daan Hoole was always at the back. When I came through this one corner, I got a small gap and I went full gas. I knew that if the rider behind me didn’t close that gap, they’d look at each other and I had a chance to stay away. This is a very important victory, the 300th in the history of the team, for me, a domestique, to take it, shows the versatility of our team.”
Overall leader, Isaac Del Toro (UAE Emirates-XRG): “Personally I feel it’s a big loss and not the best situation to continue the Giro without Juan Ayuso and Jay Vine. But we’ll manage the situation with the team. We’ll do our best for nothing to happen. There’ll be two hard stages. I can’t predict the future but if I can be with the GC riders and control the race with the team, I’ll be happy with that. I know my adversaries will try to attack me every time they’ll can. I’ll suffer but mentally and physically, I’m ready.”
2nd on the stage, Mirco Maestri (Polti VisitMalta): “I had this stage marked out before the start of the Giro. I was very close to winning, but even though I knew Denz’s abilities in these types of finishes very well, I wasn’t able to stop all the attacks from those I considered to be stronger riders. At the finish, I got second place, which is a great result, but it’s annoying to have come even closer to victory. I would have loved to give a victory of this level to the sponsors, to Polti, but it’s still a great result.”
Wout van Aert (Visma): “You could see everyone wanted to make the most of their last chance. With Van Baarle, I was well positioned in the first group on the climb, and we worked well together. We pulled away in one easy move; you could tell everyone had run out of gas. That’s racing. There were a lot of fast riders and teammates in the breakaway. Lidl and Alpecin controlled the situation for a long time, but at one point, a group with riders from almost every team broke away. Everyone was happy, including me, because I had Dylan with me. It was great that I had the chance to fight for the stage win. From now on, it’s all for Simon Yates.”
Filippo Magli (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè): “With 200 meters to go, I was around tenth, but luckily my legs responded well; I was able to fight back and finish fourth. I’m very satisfied, both for myself and for the team.” Even though we haven’t won yet, we’ve always been key players in the key moments. The Giro isn’t over yet, but I’m already feeling satisfied.”
Giro d’Italia Stage 18 Result:
1. Nico Denz (Ger) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe in 3:12:07
2. Mirco Maestri (Ita) Polti VisitMalta at 1:01
3. Edward Planckaert (Bel) Alpecin-Deceuninck
4. Filippo Magli (Ita) VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè
5. Alexander Edmondson (Aus) Team Picnic PostNL
6. Dries De Bondt (Bel) Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale
7. Daan Hoole (Ned) Lidl-Trek
8. Davide De Pretto (Ita) Jayco AlUla
9. Nicola Conci (Ita) XDS Astana
10. Larry Warbasse (USA) Tudor.
Giro d’Italia Overall After Stage 18:
1. Isaac Del Toro Romero (Mex) UAE Emirates XRG in 68:56:32
2. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost at 41
3. Simon Yates (GB) Visma | Lease a Bike at 0:51
4. Derek Gee (Can) Israel-Premier Tech at 1:57
5. Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain Victorious at 3:06
6. Egan Arley Bernal Gomez (Col) INEOS Grenadiers at 4:43
7. Giulio Pellizzari (Ita) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe at 5:02
8. Einer Rubio Reyes Movistar at 6:09
9. Adam Yates (GB) UAE Emirates XRG at 7:45
10. Michael Storer (Aus) Tudor at 7:46.
Giro’25 stage 18:
Nicolas Prodhomme (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) won the hardest stage of the 2025 Giro d’Italia, Stage 19 finishing in Champoluc. The Frenchman surprisingly rode away from the early break, while the GC men kept their powder dry for a long time. In the last kilometre of the last climb Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) attacked. Only overall leader, Isaac Del Toro (UAE Emirates-XRG) could follow him. The Mexican took second place just ahead of the Ecuadorian.
This is perhaps the toughest stage of the 2025 Giro. Just 166 kilometres long, but with 4,950 metres of climbing. Along with stages 16 and 20, stage 19 is a five star stage. There are five climbs and the first one comes almost immediately from the start, the Croce Serra (11.3km at 4.6%). After 50 kilometres there is the Col Tzecore (16km at 7.7%), a Cat 1 climb. It is the first of three mountains of more than 15 kilometres. The Col de Saint-Pantaléon (16.5 kilometres at 7.2% with ramps of up to 12%). There is a descent of about 20 kilometres to the foot of the Col de Joux (15.1km at 6.9%), French name, but still in Italy. There are six kilometres to the Antagnod (9.4km at 4.6%), which summits 4.5 kilometres from the finish in Champoluc.
Very soon after the start of the stage, a leading group of Georg Steinhauser, Bart Lemmen, Nicolas Prodhomme, Mattia Cattaneo and Jan Tratnik formed on the Croce Serra, after which many riders from the peloton tried to cross. Many managed to get to the front group, but it took 30 kilometres for them to get together. There around 30 riders ahead, including Thymen Arensman, Wout van Aert, Antonio Tiberi, Milan Vader, Christian Scaroni, Romain Bardet, Carlos Verona, Chris Harper, Igor Arrieta, Pello Bilbao, Louis Meintjes and the others. The hard climb of the Col Tzecore (15.7km at 7.7%) was next. As expected, there was a considerable thinning out of the original leading group. Arensman, who is still not fit, was quickly dropped, as was Van Aert. At the top there was about 18 riders in a lead group, with almost 3 minutes on the peloton.
The Col Saint-Pantaléon (16.5km at 7.2%), a giant of a climb, started just over 70 kilometres from the finish. The leading group thinned out even further, while the peloton rode on quite calmly at a steady pace. At the top, Lemmen, Prodhomme, Tiberi, Verona, Arrieta, Meintjes and Bilbao were still together, but it was starting to look like they wouldn’t be fighting for the stage victory. After the summit their lead was only 2 minutes, with the last two climbs still to go. On the Col de Joux, attacks were expected from the GC group. While at the front only Prodhomme, Verona and Tiberi remained up the road with a small lead, as Visma | Lease a Bike took on the work in the peloton for Simon Yates. It looked like they had a plan, but we never found out what it was, because Yates never made a move on the climb.
At the front, Prodhomme had dropped Verona and Tiberi. It looked like the Frenchman would be caught at the foot of the climb, but the 28-year-old Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale rider still had a lead of just over a minute at the top of the Col de Joux. There seemed to be a truce among the GC riders in the chase group. That was until Carapaz attacked 800 metres from the top, but he was closed down. Prodhomme held on for the stage victory. After the Col de Joux, the Frenchman still had over a minute lead on the favourites and that was enough to hold them off on the last climb. The GC men had left it too late on the Antagnod to prevent the Frenchman from winning. It was Carapaz who attacked 1.5 kilometres from the summit of the climb, but Del Toro was on his wheel. The two easily had a 30 second gap on the others in the final. The top ten stayed in the same order, but Del Toro and Carapaz have more time on Simon Yates the rest of the GC. The curtain is ready to fall on Saturday on the Finestre.
# You can see more photos in the full ‘PEZ Stage Report’ HERE. #
Stage winner, Nicolas Prodhomme (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale): “The two times I came fifth in stages of this Giro, I saw the winner taking the risk to lose. The gap between our breakaway and the bunch wasn’t big and I was sure that some GC favourites would attack, that’s why I took the risk to go early on col de Joux and I’m very happy that I’ve won. Only in the last kilometre, I’ve believed I could win. I saw my team car behind me, that meant the gap to Carapaz was one minute or more. Beforehand, my fear was that Del Toro is very good in the descents. I turned pro quite late because my studies weren’t very compatible with cycling. I was a trainee in three different teams. But I improve my cycling every year. These past few weeks, my career has changed a lot with my victory at Tour of the Alps. It gave me a lot of confidence but to win a Grand Tour stage is huge!”
Overall leader and 2nd on the stage, Isaac Del Toro (UAE Emirates-XRG): “In first place I was surprised not to see more attacks but I understood the wind was making them difficult from far out. It was sometimes head wind, sometimes tailwind. There’s also the damage in the legs from the whole day and the past few weeks. It’s hard for me to believe that I’ve again delivered a good performance. What my team-mates did for me is incredible. Visma probably wanted to make me suffer and crack again, like on stage 16, the same goes with EF with the rider they had in the breakaway [Georg Steinhauser]. I’m glad I was able to be up there. Tomorrow I expect the same as today. For sure some teams will try to attack, we have to stay together and attentive. It would be magical for me to still lead the Giro tomorrow evening after Colle delle Finestre.”
3rd on the stage and 2nd overall, Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost): “I think we all were quite on the limit, but I still wanted to give it a go and try, and I think it was a pretty good stage. I left some guys behind on the GC, arriving with Del Toro, and I’m happy about that. We kept it fast at the top.”
7th on the stage and 3rd overall, Simon Yates (Visma | Lease a Bike): “I feel good. The two riders who finished ahead of me are more explosive; I can’t keep up with them when they sprint like they did today. We’ll see if we can develop something different for tomorrow. Something completely different from what we did. I’ll have to talk to the team about it. Half of the climb won’t be paved, and that’s something I’d like to overcome. We’ll see how my legs feel tomorrow. I felt good today, so I hope it’s the same tomorrow so I can try something.”
4th on the stage and 5th overall, Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious): “I felt really good right from the start of the stage,” said the 37 year old afterwards. “It was a very tough stage, at very high speed. We managed the various phases of the race perfectly. In the final Antonio was decisive in positioning me for the last climb and the finish. We reached our goal that was not to lose time in GC. I feel sorry for Antonio because he lost chance to try to win the stage but there is still tomorrow. The Giro is not over yet.”
Alessandro Tonelli (Polti VisitMalta): “I managed to bridge across to a group of more than 30 riders together with Meintjes, but there was a lot of wind up front and little cooperation. I’m happy I was still able to support Piganzoli, we’ll all keep doing that tomorrow.”
Giro d’Italia Stage 19 Result:
1. Nicolas Prodhomme (Fra) Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale in 4:50:35
2. Isaac Del Toro Romero (Mex) UAE Emirates XRG at 0:58
3. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost
4. Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain Victorious at 1:22
5. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Emirates XRG
6. Egan Arley Bernal Gomez (Col) INEOS Grenadiers
7. Simon Yates (GB) Visma | Lease a Bike
8. Rafal Majka (Pol) UAE Emirates XRG
9. Antonio Tiberi (Ita) Bahrain Victorious
10. Einer Rubio Reyes (Col) Movistar.
Giro d’Italia Overall After Stage 19:
1. Isaac Del Toro Romero (Mex) UAE Emirates XRG in 73:47:59
2. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost at 0:43
3. Simon Yates (GB) Visma | Lease a Bike at 1:21
4. Derek Gee (Can) Israel-Premier Tech at 2:32
5. Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain Victorious at 3:36
6. Egan Arley Bernal Gomez (Col) Grenadiers at 5:13
7. Giulio Pellizzari (Ita) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe at 5:46
8. Einer Rubio Reyes (Col) Movistar at 6:39
9. Michael Storer (Aus) Tudor at 9:11
10. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Emirates XRG at 9:33.
Giro’25 stage 19:
Simon Yates set the 2025 Giro d’Italia on fire on the penultimate Stage 20. The Visma | Lease a Bike rider attacked on the Colle delle Finestre, where he lost his leader’s jersey in 2018. Towards Sestriere, Yates had the help of Wout van Aert and then soloed to the finish and the overall lead. Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) and the pink jersey Isaac Del Toro (UAE Emirates-XRG) lost time on the flying Yates. The stage victory went to early escapee Chris Harper (Jayco AlUla).
The penultimate stage of the Giro d’Italia crosses a number of mythical climbs and finishes uphill. The stage has four climbs, the last three of which are in the second half of the stage. The Corio (6.5km at 3.7%) and Colle del Lys (13.7km at 4.2%) are ‘easy’ compared to the final two mountains on the stage. That penultimate climb is a killer. The last 8 kilometres of the Colle delle Finestre (18.4km at 9.2%!) are on a rough surface and extremely steep. It is the Cima Coppi, the highest mountain climb of 2025. This is followed by a descent of 12 kilometres and the final climb of 16 kilometres at an average of 3.8% to Sestriere. At that point we should know the winner of this year’s Giro d’Italia.
From the start in Verrès, the stage was fairly flat, so riders attacked from the gun. Dries De Bondt was joined by Timo Kielich (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Sylvain Moniquet (Cofidis), Enzo Paleni (Groupama-FDJ), Kim Heiduk (INEOS Grenadiers), Jacopo Mosca (Lidl-Trek) and Gianmarco Garofoli (Soudal Quick-Step). Mads Pedersen, who was fighting with De Bondt in the intermediate sprint classification. The early break seemed to have taken shape, but the peloton wasn’t happy. Wout van Aert wanted to be in the break. The Visma | Lease a Bike rider eventually crossed to the leading group with 16 others. There were now 31 men at the front. With Van Aert was: De Bondt, Kielich and Moniquet, Quinten Hermans & Jimmy Janssens (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Milan Vader (Q36.5). Carlos Verona (Lidl-Trek), Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) and Jefferson Alveiro Cepeda (Movistar) were the best climbers in the break. At the first intermediate sprint, De Bondt was first, ahead of Pedersen, who didn’t sprint too hard. The Belgian took the lead in the intermediate sprint classification. The leading group then crossed the Corio (6.5km at 3.7%) and the Colle del Lys (13.7km at 4.2%) together. Their lead, which had been almost 9 minutes, began to slowly come down. In the peloton, Richard Carapaz’s EF Education-EasyPost set the pace. The lead of the escapees increased again to the start of the Colle delle Finestre, up to 10 minutes. Among the leaders, at the front there was a duel between Van Aert and De Bondt at the intermediate sprint. Van Aert won, but De Bondt was second and Pedersen didn’t get involved. The Dane then went on the front for his teammate, Carlos Verona on the first kilometres of the Finestre. Pedersen’s work helped Verona, Bilbao and others to break away.
Rémy Rochas (Groupama-FDJ) then attacked. A first attempt, which was quickly followed by Chris Harper (Jayco AlUla). The Australian was then joined by Alessandro Verre (Arkéa-B&B Hotels). The two rode most of the climb together. A few kilometres from the top, Harper dropped his Italian companion and was first to cross the summit. Behind in the group of favourites, EF Education-EasyPost upped the pace from the start. They went ‘full gas’, causing the peloton to split. Georg Steinhauser rode so hard that only Carapaz was still on his wheel. The German kept up his effort for a few hundred metres, after which Carapaz took over. Pink jersey Del Toro had to leave a gap, but quickly pulled him back. The other favourites stayed together. Egan Bernal and Giulio Pellizzari were in trouble. While Carapaz slowed down a bit after his first acceleration, Yates rode away from the GC group. He immediately put Carapaz and Del Toro in trouble. The Visma | Lease a Bike didn’t ease off and pushed again. He did not get away, but tried again. Carapaz responded immediately, Del Toro followed a little later. That turned out to be an incentive for Carapaz to give it another go, Del Toro reacted. Yates went with them and immediately jumped again. The three stayed together, but the race was on.
It went quiet and Derek Gee was able to come back. But Yates saw the Canadian coming and accelerated for the fourth time. This time he did create a gap. Gee joined Carapaz and Del Toro and took the lead. The Canadian set off on a chase and Carapaz saw his chance to attack. This time he seemed to give it a bit more, but was unable to drop the Mexican. The two got closer to Yates at first, but then pulled away again. Carapaz and Del Toro got some help from the caught De Bondt. The Belgian took the Mexican and Ecuadorian in tow for a while. When he dropped out, the two top favourites for the final victory slowed. Yates was able to take advantage to move further away. His lead over the chasers increased to 40 seconds, so he virtually passed Carapaz overall. The leader of EF Education-EasyPost saw the danger and started to chase again. This wasn’t for long, because Carapaz soon stopped again. He and Del Toro lost speed and Gee was able to come back. Carapaz then used the Canadian as a target for his next attack. Again Del Toro had to leave a gap, but closed it again. When they hit the gravel section, the three pursuers, Gee had come back again, were 1 minute down. Yates extended his lead even further, and he now took over the pink jersey from Del Toro (virtually).
The UAE Emirates XRG race leader started to ride at the front. That only lasted a short while, because Gee took the lead again. It was not fast enough and Yates extended his lead to 2 minutes. Carapaz saw his chances of the final victory disappear and attacked again a few kilometres before the summit. Gee dropped back, as Del Toro could follow. The gap to Yates dropped a little, but at the top the difference was still 1:40. Yates was still leading the Giro d’Italia overall. Yates had Van Aert waiting ahead from the break, the two teammates got together on the descent of the Finestre. He then rode himself to a standstill for his leader. His lead on the first part of the climb to Sestriere grew to 3 minutes. Del Toro now had the help of his teammates, Majka and McNulty, but it was too late. The lead grew bigger because of Van Aert and then Yates rode on by himself to take the lead and barring incident, the 2025 Giro. The stage victory went to Chris Harper, the biggest victory of his career. Yates crossed the line in third place, after Verre and Harper. The Visma | Lease a Bike rider should have no problems on the flat stage to Rome on Sunday. Del Toro won the sprint from the favourites group and will finish second overall, with Carapaz in third.
# You can see more photos in the full ‘PEZ Stage Report’ HERE. #
Stage winner, Chris Harper (Jayco AlUla): “The idea was to look for the breakaway, but I was not sure it would arrive. With the GC battle behind us, I would not have been surprised if one of the GC guys won the stage even though I raced up the Finestre with such big gap. When we started that climb, Lidl-Trek set a hard pace. When Rémi Rochas went, I followed him, then another group came across and I jumped from there. Only one guy [Alessandro Verre] was able to follow, but I preferred to climb at my own pace. I kept my effort under control in order to not exploding so I would have enough left to go to the finish. My sport directors kept me updated so I knew Simon Yates had a decent gap. I also knew when he had Wout van Aert with him and I got a bit nervous knowing Van Aert was chasing me down on the valley. I was happy to hold on. For me it’s awesome, I couldn’t ask for a better finish of the Giro. I’ve been a team-mate of Simon in a lot of races in support of him, I know how talented he is and capable of winning a Grand Tour, I’m super happy with him to win the Giro. I knew it was possible. I wish I’d still be his team-mate, he gets the result he deserves.”
Overall leader and 3rd on the stage, Simon Yates (Visma | Leas a Bike): “In the last few hundred meters I realised what I’d done and I started feeling my legs. Although I had a big gap, I didn’t believe I was going to win the Giro. I’m not sure if I attacked at the same place I struggled in 2018. Today I was trying to get away knowing that I could hold a high pace. I felt really good today, I was able to push all the way to the top and with Wout van Aert in the valley, once I got there I had to do my things. Since the route of the Giro was released, I always had at the back of my mind to try something on this climb that defined my career so far. I’ve been feeling good all race, but I needed to believe in myself. In the end, I managed to do something there. In this very moment, it’s hard to say what it means, but it’s the peak of my career, I don’t think any other moment tops this. I’m not getting any younger, so to win the Giro, something I’ve been targeting for many years and not being able to pull it off until today…”
9th on the stage and 2nd overall, Isaac del Toro (UAE Emirates-XRG): “Yes, without a doubt, Simon Yates was the smartest, and I take my hat off to Visma, because they played very well with Van Aert also at the front. They increased the gap very quickly in the valley. His team played very well tactically. At the beginning, there was just that pressure: Carapaz wanted to destroy everyone, and I let him do it to see if he could really let us down. But in the end, he couldn’t, and Simon came back. I thought I could stay with them, but I also had to keep an eye on Carapaz because he was close to me in the general classification. But when Simon started gaining time, and he’s third and Richard is second, it was up to Richard to keep up with him, just to stay second. Afterwards, if he doesn’t want to follow or hesitates, each one puts pressure on the other, and that’s it.”
3rd overall, Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost): “We could have been the strongest, but in the end, the smartest one won today. In the end, he (Del Toro) lost the Giro. He didn’t know how to ride well, and in the end, the one who was smartest won.”
7th overall, Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers): “I felt good, but I also knew the other riders were very strong. Once on the Finestre climb, I found my own pace and maintained it to the finish. This Giro has been magnificent and special for me. It was very tough, but I enjoyed it immensely, both the race and the pure pleasure of peddling. Even when I felt exhausted today, I told myself I wanted to remember every pedal stroke. No matter where I finished in the standings, being able to fight for the overall was like a dream.”
KOM, Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS- Astana): “The mountain jersey was my goal from the start of the Giro, and we achieved it, so I’m very happy. Today was a difficult day, like yesterday. In the end, the whole team gave everything during this Giro, and we paid a bit of a price over the last two days. But we achieved our goals, and that’s what counts. Yes, I’m satisfied.” I think our team leaders can be satisfied, and we can celebrate tonight. They told us at the start of the Giro: You’ll see Yates, you won’t see him for the whole race, and he’ll win the Giro. And that’s exactly what happened.”
Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike): “It’s incredible. I don’t think we could have imagined it this morning, and yes, Simon (Yates) went all out from so far back. I love it when riders aren’t just fighting for a place of honour, so my hat’s off to him. Once in the break and with such a lead, I knew I had a small chance of getting through La Finestre ahead of the leaders. And of course, I’m happy to have been useful, but it’s obviously a collective effort from the whole team.”
Giro d’Italia Stage 20 Result:
1. Chris Harper (Aus) Jayco AlUla
2. Alessandro Verre (Ita) Arkéa-B&B Hotels
3. Simon Yates (GB) Visma | Lease a Bike at 1:57
4. Gianmarco Garofoli (Ita) Soudal Quick-Step at 3:52
5. Remy Rochas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ at 3:57
6. Martin Marcellusi (Ita) VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè at 4:31
7. Carlos Verona Quintanilla (Spa) Lidl-Trek
8. Max Poole (GB) Team Picnic PostNL at 6:45
9. Isaac Del Toro Romero (Mex) UAE Emirates XRG at 7:10
10. Giulio Pellizzari (Ita) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe.
Giro d’Italia Overall After Stage 20:
1. Simon Yates (GB) Visma | Lease a Bike in 79:18:42
2. Isaac Del Toro Romero (Mex) UAE Emirates XRG at 3:56
3. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost at 4:43
4. Derek Gee (Can) Israel-Premier Tech at 6:23
5. Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain Victorious at 7:32
6. Giulio Pellizzari (Ita) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe at 9:28
7. Egan Arley Bernal Gomez (Col) INEOS Grenadiers at 12:42
8. Einer Rubio Reyes (Col) Movistar at 13:05
9. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Emirates XRG at 13:36
10. Michael Storer (Aus) Tudor at 14:27.
Giro’25 stage 20:
Simon Yates is the final overall winner of the 2025 Giro d’Italia. The British Visma | Lease a Bike rider celebrated his victory with a day in pink on the streets of Rome in the traditional flat final Stage 21. The bunch sprint was won by his teammate Olav Kooij. He beat Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Matteo Moschetti (Q36.5). Yates was joined by Isaac Del Toro (UAE Emirates XRG) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) on the final podium.
The final stage of the Giro d’Italia goes through the capital City of Rome. In the last 75 kilometres, the riders will cover a 9.5 kilometre circuit through the city centre, past the Fori Imperiali and the Colosseum. The start on Sunday the 1st of June is from the Vatican City to honour the late Pope Francis, who died at the end of April at the age of 88 and was a big fan of all sports. From the Vatican, the race heads to the Tyrrhenian coast, to then come back to Rome again after 40 kilometres. The race then concludes on the circuit. Again there will be a bunch sprint before the final podium celebrations.
Pope Leo XIV blessed the Giro d’Italia riders as they passed through Vatican City State. “It is a pleasure to greet you on this final stage of the Giro d’Italia. Know that you are role models for young people around the world. I thank you for what you do. I hope that, just as you have learned to take care of your bodies, you will also take care of your spirits! May God bless you.”
After Saturday’s impressive coup on the Colle delle Finestre, it was Simon Yates who would ride through Rome in the pink jersey. In the neutralised zone, the peloton also rode through the Vatican City, where the new Pope Leo XIV welcomed and blessed the riders. This was followed by a 143 kilometer stage finish on the slightly uphill straight next to the Colosseum. It was a day of mixed feelings for the Visma | Lease a Bike. There was joy at the final victory of Simon Yates, but also the sad news of the passing of Daisy Gesink, the wife of former rider Robert Gesink. Joy and sorrow in Rome for the Dutch team, who had special black jerseys with pink accents. After the usual photo shoot, toasts with prosecco, and messing about for the cameras, the race proper got under way. It was Steven Kruijswijk who set the pace at the front of the peloton and with about 70 kilometres to go, then the first attacks started. A group of 6 including Josef Cerny (Soudal Quick-Step), Alessandro Verre (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Enzo Paleni (Groupama-FDJ), Michael Hepburn (Jayco AlUla), Andrea Pietrobon (Polti VisitMalta) and Martin Marcellusi (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizane) managed to get away.
The lead increased to 30 seconds, but the sprinter’s teams eventually got together and started to chase. Cerny and Paleni held out the longest, the Czech was the strongest of the group, but was pulled in on the final lap. He was caught by the peloton just over 5 kilometres from the finish and the sprinters could get ready for the finish. Alpecin-Deceuninck, Tudor, Visma | Lease a Bike and Picnic PostNL started to get their sprint trains in place. Olav Kooij got the perfect lead-out from Edoardo Affini, who was the first to go under the 1K to go banner with Wout van Aert and Kooij on his wheel. The Italian put in a strong pull and then it was Van Aert who hit the front to launch Kooij to the line. The Dutch sprinter took the victory by a length with a long sprint. He held off Kaden Groves and Matteo Moschetti. The Giro d’Italia could not have ended better for Visma | Lease a Bike, with three stage wins, two for Kooij and one for Van Aert, and the overall victory for Simon Yates.
# You can see more photos in the full ‘PEZ Stage Report’ HERE. #
Stage winner, Olav Kooij (Visma | Lease a Bike): “This is a perfect final week-end for us. We reached one last goal together with the team, which is winning the last stage with me, that’s really cool. We were aiming for stage wins and GC with Simon Yates at the beginning of the Giro. The first win we got with Wout van Aert was really nice after some setbacks. Then we got another wins and the GC with Simon. We’ve tried to see every day who had the best opportunity to win. With today’s finish, Wout thought it was better for me. I’m thankful to him. To have such a champion in front of me to lead me to the sprint made it a bit easier. It’s not a bad idea to print the picture of the celebration of this victory in Rome, it’s something I’ll keep for ever.”
The winner of the 2025 Giro d’Italia, Simon Yates (Visma | Lease a Bike): “Since turned pro, I’ve dreamt of wining the best races and the Grand Tours are the pinnacle of our sport. You all know what happened to me in the Giro in 2018, I’ve had my ups and downs here in Italy but this race kept calling my name and I finally win it. During this Giro, I was looking more and more further away, it wasn’t going to be an easy task to win the race. But the guys encouraged me just to try. I also believed and I pulled it off on a crazy day. I had an idea to get away on this climb. I knew I had strong legs and I wanted to be alone and focus on my own effort. I had more to give on a long sustained effort than on other stages that were more explosive. Other stages have been more tactical while yesterday’s was quite simple. I’ve found myself again during this Giro. This is my year. I don’t have the bad luck I’ve had in the past. It was an incredible start today, when I realised we were going to stop at the Vatican city. To get the blessing of the pope will remain an unforgettable moment for me and all the riders.”
2nd overall and best young rider, Isaac Del Toro (UAE Emirates XRG): “It is such an incredible feeling to be in this position. It is a surprise for a lot of people and it is incredible to prove to myself that I can do it and that I am able to do it. The team was always there, the guys were always there to support me because they see something in me. Thanks to the guys, I am in this position, and I cannot be more proud and happy about this. For sure, it is not nice to lose the [pink] jersey, but I need to be mature with this and I need to take this to be hungry in the future. Sometimes the guy who makes fewer mistakes is who wins, and for sure, I will come back stronger. I will remember this Giro d’Italia as proof to myself that I can do big things, if I work enough to do it. Of course, it will be harder every day but I will try to enjoy it as well, and always be there. I just need to enjoy it and keep on working as hard as I can.”
3rd overall, Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost): “We are very happy. The team should be very proud of themselves. We all showed the right attitude from day one. We knew the objective and tried every day. The plan was to win the Giro and we never gave up. I think the team gave it their all and made a spectacle for the fans. Our attacking way of riding was nice for them to see for sure. The circumstances of the race were what they were. We all played the same game, the game of trying to win, and only one could win. We went all in for it and it ended how it ended. For me, a third place is a reward for all the hard work we put in to be on the podium, so I think we can all be very happy.”
4th overall, Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech): “I didn’t want to put a number on it at the start. But, the number I had in my head was a top five. So I’m relieved and I’m very, very happy to have been able to achieve that.”“I had the fourth-best legs. I don’t think two years ago I ever could have imagined this. And, to be honest, it just makes me a lot hungrier for more, because I know there are still areas we can improve. We’ve only been doing this GC project for a year now so I’m really looking forward to more.”
Points competition winner, Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek): “I’ve enjoyed wearing the Maglia Ciclamino a lot, and leading the points classification from start to finish. I’ve enjoyed my results and the team’s results. One of the strongest and most beautiful moments has been the win of Carlos Verona because this guy works so hard for the others. It’s been an incredible journey, wearing the Maglia Rosa also. It’s been my best Grand Tour so far. It would be amazing to complete my collection with the points classification of every Grand Tour.”
KOM, Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS Astana): “I dedicate this Maglia Azzurra, this victory in the mountain classification, to my family, to my wife who is always by my side, supporting me through the toughest times and moments of joy. This victory is also for my team, which has given me incredible support throughout the season. I want to thank the whole team – my teammates, fellow riders, and all the staff – for these past three weeks. After I took the jersey following Stage 3, the thought came to me – why not fight for the mountain classification? Of course, this required huge support from the whole squad, and every day we had to give 100%, because in Grand Tours everything can change in just one day. Every day, I and all the guys gave it our all, and in the end, it worked out – today, I’m on the podium in Rome wearing the blue jersey! What could be better?”
Giro d’Italia Final Stage 21 Result:
1. Olav Kooij (Ned) Visma | Lease a Bike in 3:12:19
2. Kaden Groves (Aus) Alpecin-Deceuninck
3. Matteo Moschetti (Ita) Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team
4. Mads Pedersen (Den) Lidl-Trek
5. Luke Lamperti (USA) Soudal Quick-Step
6. Max Kanter (Ger) XDS Astana
7. Filippo Baroncini (Ita) UAE Emirates XRG
8. Orluis Alberto Aular Sanabria (Ven) Movistar
9. Enrico Zanoncello (Ita) VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè
10. Giovanni Lonardi (Ita) Polti VisitMalta.
Giro d’Italia Final Overall Result:
1. Simon Yates (GB) Visma | Lease a Bike in 82:31:01
2. Isaac Del Toro Romero (Mex) UAE Emirates XRG at 3:56
3. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost at 4:43
4. Derek Gee (Can) Israel-Premier Tech at 6:23
5. Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain Victorious at 7:32
6. Giulio Pellizzari (Ita) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe at 9:28
7. Egan Arley Bernal Gomez (Col) INEOS Grenadiers at 12:42
8. Einer Rubio Reyes (Col) Movistar at 13:05
9. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Emirates XRG at 13:36
10. Michael Storer (Aus) Tudor at 14:27.
Giro’25 stage 21:
‘Passionate Cycling Audience’ in Mexico for Isaac Del Toro
Isaac Del Toro is the first Mexican stage winner in a Grand Tour since 2002, and that is causing quite a lot of attention in his home country. According to his personal manager, Alex Carera, the talk is about the duel with Carapaz from Ecuador.
“I have to say: the rivalry between Carapaz and Del Toro is interesting. The passionate cycling audience that we see in Ecuador and earlier in Colombia can also be found in Mexico. Isaac in pink is good for him, good for me, good for UAE, but certainly also for cycling in general,” Carera told Het Nieuwsblad.
According to the manager, Del Toro’s possible Giro victory is very popular in his home country. “A lot is coming in from Mexico. Sponsorship proposals for Isaac, requests for television appearances. I’m holding it all back. Stop! Nobody can speak to Isaac until Sunday. Sorry, but I have to do my job.”
However, Del Toro hasn’t been living in Mexico for a while. “One of the first things I did for Isaac was arrange an apartment in San Marino, where he had been with the Monex team before and had good experiences. San Marino is also interesting for arranging visas. Antonio Tiberi and Giulio Pellizzari live there in the same apartment building.”
A hero in Mexico:
Mexican President Following the Pink Hero, Isaac Del Toro
Mexico has had cycling heroes Raúl Alcalá and Julio Alberto Pérez Cuapio in the past, but Isaac Del Toro’s performances in the Giro d’Italia has captivated the South American country. Claudia Sheinbaum, the president of Mexico, has been following the UAE Emirates XRG rider.
No Mexican has ever won a Grand Tour, but Del Toro came very close. Claudia Sheinbaum, the first female president of Mexico is aware of the situation. “At the age of 21, he has achieved something great,” she responded to a question from a journalist during a press conference. “Let’s cheer him on from here with good vibes. We all support him.”
“I don’t really want to jinx it,” she said on Saturday before stage 20 and 21. “Let’s talk about this topic tomorrow or the day after. We will think of him and support him.”
Mexico behind Del Toro:
Remco Evenepoel Wins Prize for Safety Campaign: “I Would Rather Have Done it Without an Accident”
The safety campaign that Remco Evenepoel set up together with bpost has won seven prizes at the prestigious Creative Belgium Awards. The campaign, called ‘Remco Reflex’, was created after Evenepoel collided with an open door of a bpost van last winter.
“I am proud that the ‘Remco Reflex’ has won a prize,” Evenepoel said at the award ceremony. “It is a great initiative that I would like to associate my name with. Although I would have preferred to do it without an accident. But I am super proud that I can contribute to road safety in this way.”
As many as 100,000 stickers with a photo of Evenepoel were distributed free of charge for the campaign to encourage people to think before they open their car door, HLN reports. The intention is to place the sticker on the window on the driver’s side, to remind drivers to watch out for any approaching cyclists when opening the door.
The crash meant that Evenepoel, due to several fractures, couldn’t race for a long time and only started his cycling season at the Brabantse Pijl.
Awards for Remco:
Tom Dumoulin Sees Reconnaissance Unbound Gravel end ‘Very Badly’
On May 31, the legendary gravel race Unbound is scheduled in the American Kansas, and Tom Dumoulin is one of the most talked about participants. However, his reconnaissance did not go smoothly.
After all, Dumoulin shows a photo on his social media, which shows that the former Limburg rider did not get through his first encounter with Kansas unscathed. “It ended very badly,” writes Dumoulin. “I stupidly slid away in a bend.”
The course is not easy, as former rider Greg Van Avermaet also noticed from his reconnaissance. Together with former professional footballer Jell Van Damme, he has already completed 70 of the 322 kilometres that are on the program on Saturday.
“It is not dusty at all, but not soaking wet either,” says Sporza reporter Ruben Van Gucht, who follows the Belgians. “But the next few days will clear up in Kansas. It will be sunny and warm here.”
Not the best preparation:
David Dekker Out of Action for a Long Time
David Dekker will not be seen in competition for a while, he also hardly participated in the past months. The 27-year-old sprinter of Euskaltel-Euskadi now knows what is going on. “After a long period of feeling bad on the bike and a lot of uncertainty, recent medical examinations have confirmed the presence of endofibrosis of the iliac artery”, Dekker says on his social media.
“In the past months I felt worse and worse, to the point that I could not even finish a race. Thanks to all the necessary medical examinations, this long period of doubting myself and my abilities has finally come to an end. I will soon undergo the necessary surgery and then I can finally look ahead and work on my recovery.”
His team reports that Dekker will be out of action for some time. Circulation problems in the pelvic arteries are common among cyclists. Fabio Jakobsen is currently out of action due to a similar problem.
Dekker still out:
40-Year-Old Jakob Fuglsang to Retired from Racing on Sunday
Jakob Fuglsang retired at the Giro d’Italia in Rome, and ended his professional cycling career. For Fuglsang, this is the end of almost seventeen years as a professional cyclist.
Fuglsang announced the news via his Israel-Premier Tech team. “At the end of last year, I signed a seven-month contract because I absolutely wanted to participate in the classification project around Derek Gee once more. That worked out well in the Giro. I am happy that I can retire at a level where I can still do something for the team and participate in the race,” said the Dane.
Fuglsang has not achieved any impressive results in recent seasons, but he was a top performer in the Tour and Classics for many years. His list of achievements includes two monuments. In 2019, he soloed to victory in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, a year later he was first in the Tour of Lombardy. In 2016, he won Olympic silver in the road race in Rio de Janeiro.
He also won the Critérium du Dauphiné twice in 2017 and 2019 and the Tour of Denmark in 2008, 2009 and 2010, Ruta del Sol in 2019 and 2020, Tour of Luxembourg in 2012 and Tour of Slovenia 2009. Fuglsang has 27 professional victories in his palmarès.
Fuglsang retired after the Giro:
Mathieu van der Poel Training in Spain Without a Wrist Brace
Mathieu van der Poel was spotted on his bike in Spain just a week after he suffered a fracture in his wrist. The Dutchman completed a training session in warm conditions without a brace on his wrist. A signs of a fast recovery.
After Mathieu van der Poel’s short mountain bike race season, which ended with a withdrawal after two crashes, a long recovery for the former World champion was feared. The 30-year-old Dutchman suffered a small fracture in his wrist during the trip to the Czech Republic.
As a result, he was unable to go to a training camp on the planned date and there were question marks surrounding his participation in the Tour. But after all the speculation, the Dutchman was spotted on his indoor trainer just two days after his injury. He continued training with a wrist brace, laughing, as if nothing had happened.
A week later, the recovery of his wrist seems to be going well. Van der Poel was spotted by a cyclist in Spain in the company of Jordi Meeus and Danny van Poppel (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe). Apart from a bandage on his right leg and right arm, there are no visible injuries. The winner of Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix is not wearing a wrist brace.
No wrist support:
Primoz Roglič’s Family Robbed During Giro Visit
Primoz Roglič didn’t have a great Giro d’Italia, and things got worse for the Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe rider’s family. During a visit to the Giro, his wife Lora Roglič Klinč was robbed.
The Slovenian told local media SIOL: “Our camper was broken into in the middle of the day. They smashed the window and stole a computer hidden in the bed, a mobile phone that Primoz had given me during the Olympic Games in Tokyo, money and two rings,” Klinč said.
The thieves did not know that they were breaking into the Slovenian’s camper, because there were no identifying marks of Primoz Roglič on the vehicle. The incident occurred during the time trial on 20 May, when Roglič was still in the race. A week later, after another crash, he had to abandon and focus on the Tour de France.
Not a good giro for Roglič:
Adam Blythe Interrupts Broadcast for ‘Selfie’ with Wout van Aert
Wout van Aert is a hero with the public, but it’s not just the fans, the journalists are also crazy about the Visma | Lease a Bike rider. Former cyclist Adam Blythe, who is now a reporter for TNT Sports, asked for a ‘selfie’ with the Belgian during a live broadcast.
“Here is Wout van Aert. Wait a minute, one second. Wout, can I take a quick photo with you?”, Blythe asked Van Aert, who who was about to line up for the start of stage 20 of the Giro d’Italia. “Wait a minute guys, I have to take a photo with Wout.”
This leads to amazement and hilarity in the TNT Sports studio. “Why is he looking at his phone? Is he really doing this? You’re live on TV,” they said, laughing, as the former Omega Pharma-Lotto, BMC and Tinkoff rider took a ‘selfie’. Blythe then sees his chance to ask Van Aert a few questions. “How are you feeling?” Blyth asked. “Good, I’m glad the mountain stages are almost behind us,” responded a relaxed Van Aert. After a second question about Sunday’s final stage, Blythe cuts the conversation short. “I have to go, otherwise I’ll get into trouble.”
Lance Armstrong Uses Seven Yellow Jerseys for Beer Commercial
Lance Armstrong officially lost his seven Tour victories, but he still has his yellow jerseys hanging in his home, where he showed the in an appearance by the Texan in a beer commercial. Armstrong shows off his seven yellow jerseys in the commercial for Athletic Brewing, a company that produces non-alcoholic beer.
“There’s something about the color yellow,” Armstrong says in the video, in which the camera slides past the yellow jerseys to the former cyclist. The 53-year-old American takes a sip of a beer with a yellow label. The colour is of course no coincidence: Armstrong wore the yellow jersey in the Tour de France 83 times in his career. He also stood on the podium in Paris as the overall winner for seven years in a row from 1999 to 2005.
But all those victories and his 22 individual stage victories were taken away from him in 2012 due to doping use. A year later, Armstrong admitted to having achieved his Tour victories with the help of doping in the form of EPO, blood transfusions, cortisone, growth hormones and testosterone.
Armstrong still has his jerseys:
Visma | Lease a Bike: “Jonas Vingegaard Will be Better in Three Weeks”
World champion Tadej Pogačar has made a big impression this season. In Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix he came up against a too strong Mathieu van der Poel, but in all the other races the 26-year-old Slovenian was lord and master. As the reigning champion he is also considered the top favourite for the Tour de France, with rival Jonas Vingegaard as challenger. But Visma | Lease a Bike sees it differently.
Team manager Richard Plugge does not mince his words in the latest WielerFlits Podcast and former rider Nathan Van Hooydonck underlines that. When both riders are in top form, Plugge’s Danish leader is the better of the two. “Jonas was simply less in the final week last year due to circumstances. I do think that UAE Emirates XRG has made progress after the time trial to Combloux in the 2023 Tour. But so have we. And we are mainly looking at ourselves, how we can improve our performance. Compared to last year, we have made a big step in that regard.”
Plugge does not see his protégé and team as a challenger, but places Vingegaard on an equal footing with Pogačar. Even after his demonstrative spring. “Of course,” the team boss does not hesitate. “Jonas has gained minutes on Pogačar for two years in a row (2022 and 2023). Last year, Jonas, after a very flawed start and a pretty bad finish – physically – was also a big competitor towards the end. And Jonas has also made progress again. I have no reason not to believe that we can go for yellow again.”
If the Dane succeeds, he will, just like the Slovenian, have three final victories. However, the course in the upcoming Tour de France seems to lean more towards Pogačar’s qualities. Plugge is also clear about the areas in which Vingegaard is stronger than him. “Over the entire three weeks. You could perhaps say that Pogačar is better on Tour of Flanders-like courses, but this is about a three-week race. And in our view, Jonas is better at that, to be able to deal with that accumulation of fatigue etc.” Artificial intelligence has become an indispensable part of modern life and we are also seeing it more and more in cycling. Plugge reveals what his team mainly uses AI for. “We are working on all sorts of things to ensure that we learn even more and can perform even better. We are working closely with PON to see in which areas we can make progress. I won’t go into too much detail. Think about how we should approach stages, where we should attack, where not to, that kind of thing. And then learn the best lessons from that.”
Vingegaard to with the 2025 Tour?
Gianmarco Garofoli Extends with Soudal Quick-Step
The Italian will remain a member of the team until the end of 2027
Having joined Soudal Quick-Step before the start of this year, Gianmarco Garofoli has now signed a new deal with the team, following a strong outing at Il Giro. Present in several breakaways in Italy, the rider known affectionately within the team as ‘Garo’ has built on a strong start to 2025.
At his home Grand Tour, the 22-year-old from Ancona took his maiden top ten at the Corsa Rosa on the stage finishing in Asiago, a result made more impressive by the fact it came after being involved in a crash in the first part of the race, thus demonstrating his determination and a spirit that has already seen him become a popular member of The Wolfpack.
“I’m delighted to ink a new agreement with Soudal Quick-Step. From the moment I came here, long before my first race, I felt at home in the team. Everyone was so nice and gave me a warm welcome, and on top of that, I found the environment I needed to develop and become a better rider. I am really looking forward to performing with this jersey.”
“The mentality of the squad and their winning attitude are two other things that have made an impression on me. You see this team from the outside, but it’s only when you’re part of it that you understand how hard and with how much professionalism everybody here works, from riders to staff. I’m happy to continue with Soudal Quick-Step and give my best to help this team remain one of the best in the world”, the Italian said after extending his contract.
“Gianmarco has found his place immediately in the team, he’s integrated into our culture and showed that he possesses the same qualities and principles that are guiding us. On top of that, he has shown numerous times how strong he is, not only at the Giro, but also in the other races he has done. He’s a young and ambitious rider, who has room for improvement, and we are glad he will do it with us in the next two years”, added Soudal Quick-Step CEO Jurgen Foré.
Gianmarco Garofoli to stay with Soudal Quick-Step:
Pietro Mattio Steps Up from Development Team to WorldTeam
With Pietro Mattio, yet another homegrown rider makes the step up from Team Visma | Lease a Bike Development to the WorldTeam. The 20-year-old Italian has signed a two-year contract.
Mattio is currently in his third year with the Development Team. During this time, he has grown into a valued team player capable of performing well in a variety of terrains. His fifth place in the U23 Paris-Roubaix stands out the most, alongside a third place in the Italian Nationals and a second place in a stage of the Orlen Nations GP.
Mattio has also made impressive strides on a personal level. “When Pietro first joined us, he hardly spoke any English and was a very young, somewhat shy boy,” says head of development Robbert de Groot. “I was still a kid,” Mattio laughs. “But he has developed rapidly and impressively into a tactically strong, task-focused, and valuable rider. Pietro is now a true team player and a source of positive energy.” He recently showcased those qualities in Rund um Köln, where he led out Matthew Brennan to victory as the final man.
“I’m very happy to make the step up to the WorldTour with Team Visma | Lease a Bike,” says Mattio. “It’s a dream come true and something I’ve worked hard for since I first got on a racing bike at the age of six. This team and its staff have played a key role in getting me to this point. Even though I’ve reached an important goal, this is only the beginning. I want to keep growing like I have in recent years. I look forward to reaching my highest level and supporting the team.”
“Pietro has made a strong impression in our Development Team,” adds head of racing Grischa Niermann. “Even in races where he competed alongside our WorldTeam, he held his own. We’re pleased to see another homegrown talent move up, and we believe he will continue his development in the WorldTour.”
Pietro Mattio to the Visma | Lease a Bike WorldTeam:
2026 Vuelta a España to Have Final Four Days on the Canary Islands and Finish on Teide
The Vuelta a España returns to the Canary Islands in 2026 with a climax on the islands of Gran Canaria and Tenerife. The last four stages of the Spanish tour would be held on the islands, with two decisive days on the Teide and the Pico de las Nieves. At least, that is what the local media Atlantico Hoy reports.
It is quite unique that the Vuelta is crossing over to the Canary Islands. In the 79 editions of the Spanish Grand Tour, it only passed through there once, when in 1988 the Vuelta kicked off with a prologue in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
The local government of Gran Canaria itself came up with the initiative to propose to Unipublic, the Vuelta organiser, to hold the final of the Vuelta on the Canary Islands. Tenerife initially had doubts about the price tag of 6 million euros, but as a promotional tool for markets in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Slovenia and Poland, they finally agreed.
According to local sources, the last stage of the Vuelta would then take place on top of Mount Teide. We hardly ever see that climb in competition, but it is a popular training climb for most WorldTeams during the winter.
Vuelta a to finish on Teide?
Pogačar, Vingegaard and Evenepoel in a Three-Way Standoff in the Critérium du Dauphiné
It seems Tadej Pogačar can do no wrong in 2025. Curse of the rainbow jersey? What curse of the rainbow jersey? The Slovenian is arguably the most successful world champion of the 21st century. While it is true that Tom Boonen amassed sixteen victories between late 2005 and June 2006, the UAE leader has scooped up nine on a much lighter schedule, putting him ahead percentage-wise. The shadow of doubt still hangs over the participation of his main challenger in the classics, Mathieu van der Poel, who will only line up for the Critérium du Dauphiné if he has fully recovered from his crash in the Mountain Bike World Cup. The Slovenian, however, is certain to come up against his two closest rivals in the general classification of the 2024 Tour, as Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel have both decided to go toe to toe with the man of the hour before their high-stakes duel in July. Despite a succession of falls sabotaging their build-up at different points in the season, they will be a force to be reckoned with if they can hit peak form again. Neither the Dane nor the Belgian has tasted victory outside a time trial this year, so the 17.7 km race against the clock between Charmes-sur-Rhône and Saint-Péray will be a red-letter day for them.
The Ardèche department will provide an early snapshot of the pecking order, but the winner of the 2025 Dauphiné will be decided at the end of an Alpine triptych. The slopes of Combloux, Valmeinier 1800 and the climactic showdown on the Plateau du Mont-Cenis will set the scene for a gripping three-way standoff between the top favourites, but there will be no shortage of outsiders ready to crash their party. The young Florian Lipowitz, for example, already proved his mettle when he took second in Paris–Nice, while Santiago Buitrago is still looking for his definitive breakthrough. Carlos Rodríguez, on the other hand, needs to prove that his impressive showing in the 2023 Tour and his stage win on the Plateau des Glières in the finale of last year’s Dauphiné were no fluke. And Mattias Skjelmose is one of the few riders to have beaten “Pogi” this year, taking victory at the Amstel Gold Race.
Key points:
- On 8 June, the men who stood on the podium of the 2024 Tour de France will meet again in the Allier department to inaugurate the 77th Critérium du Dauphiné on the roads from Domérat to Montluçon. Tadej Pogacar, fourth in his sole previous start in 2020, is the favourite to win the race, a cut above the 2023 winner, Jonas Vingegaard, and Remco Evenepoel.
- Florian Lipowitz, Carlos Rodríguez, Santiago Buitrago, Mattias Skjelmose and Enric Mas are among the outsiders gunning for a podium spot.
- The young Lenny Martinez and Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet will carry the hopes of the French nation, while Romain Bardet will be eager to hit the right note in his swansong.
Pogačar, Vingegaard and Evenepoel for the Dauphiné:
Ludo Dierckxsens Passed Away on Thursday
Ludo Dierckxsens died at the age of 60. The former Belgian champion became unwell during the charity ride, ‘1000 kilometer voor Kom op tegen Kanker’, after which he died.
Dierckxsens had a a great palmarès, not only for his big smile. He didn’t turn professional until he was 29-years-old, but he still took some top victories during his career. He was Belgian champion in Geraardsbergen in 1999 and the same year he won a stage in the Tour de France. Dierckxsens’ professional career ran from 1994 to 2004, although he did have a six-month suspension due to cortisone use. Over the past 20 years, Dierckxsens has still been involved in cycling, he appeared in VRT series De Ronde and FC De Kampioenen and was an ambassador for various cycle brands.
The news of his passing hit the Giro d’Italia on Thursday. Sporza reported that Mauro Gianetti and Geert Van Bondt were among those who spoke about the news. “It’s unbelievable,” Gianetti said after the finish. “This hits me hard. We were good friends. I have no words for it and am thinking of the family now. After all those thousands of kilometres on the bike, this should not happen. This is tragic. My sincere condolences to the family and to cycling. We are losing a very good friend.”
Soudal Quick-Step team DS, Van Bondt was also emotional after the finish. “If you hear this news after the race… Then it is certainly a blow. Ludo always attacked and never stopped. A character. This news hits hard.” Van Bondt and Dierckxsens had known each other for almost forty years. “We turned pro in the same year,” Van Bondt explained, “and we also rode together as amateurs.”
Former colleagues remember Ludo Dierckxsens as a ‘popular teddy bear’
In Belgium, the news that Ludo Dierckxsens passed away yesterday afternoon came as a bombshell. The former cyclist was very popular in the cycling world, especially among his former colleagues. Together with Johan Museeuw and Kurt Van de Wouwer, Sporza reminisces.
Museeuw knew Dierckxsens as a competitor during his career, but built up a friendship with Dierckxsens after his career as a professional cyclist. “I saw Ludo a bit more recently, because he was cycling a lot again,” says Museeuw.
Together with Dierckxsens, he often went out for charity. “Then you wonder: do you really need to do all that. The answer to that is yes. The only thing is that someone like Ludo – always with a big smile – has to die on his bike. It is far too early that he has to leave us.”
“I remember Ludo as someone who always laughs,” says Museeuw. “He also always attacked and achieved his greatest victories that way. In our generation, he was one of the greatest engines. He was a popular figure who always went through life cheerfully. Ludo became a professional rider very late, but he was loved by the entire peloton. He couldn’t hurt a fly.”
In 1998, Van de Wouwer was Dierckxsens’ teammate at Lotto Mobistar for a year. “As a late professional, he still reached the top. Now, riders take the step at a very young age. Sometimes it’s not bad to have worked first. We now also say that to the youth, because when you realise your dream, you really realise what it entails. You are then hardened by real life.”
As a rider, Dierckxsens mainly had great attacking qualities. “Compare him a bit with Thomas De Gendt. He always chose to attack. With or without results, it didn’t matter to him. Ludo had a huge goodwill factor anyway, also from his competitors. And as a teddy bear he was very popular with the fans.”
Wout van Aert Sees Ludo Dierckxsens as ‘an Inspiration to Live Life’
Wout van Aert is in his final days in the Giro d’Italia, but heard of the death of former rider Ludo Dierckxsens. Van Aert is from Kempen, just like Dierckxsens.
“I was very shocked when I heard the news on the bus yesterday,” Wout van Aert told Sporza the day after the death. “I knew Ludo a little as a fellow countryman and we had contact every now and then.”
“I have the same image of him as the rest of the cycling world. He was someone who always laughed and went through life in a good mood. He is an inspiration to live life. It is sad that he lost his life like this,” said Van Aert.
Ludo Dierckxsens a big character with a big smile:
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