2025 Giro d’Italia Second Week Route Preview: The middle week of any Grand Tour can be a bit of a stepping-stone the the decisive final and usually very hard final week. The Giro d’Italia organisers have thrown in a varied selection o stages to keep everyone happy. A fast time trial, two sprinters stages, two for the puncheurs and a hard stage for the climbers. Here are the details:
Stage 10 – Tuesday 20 May
A fast TT on stage 10
A time trial awaits the Giro peloton after the second rest day. The race against the clock is between Lucca and Pisa and described as ‘very fast and ridden in a south-westerly direction’. The route is much the same as the time trial that was won by the Norwegian Knut Knudsen in the 1977 Giro. There isn’t much uphill, but towards the Foto di San Guilano tunnel the road does climb, before levelling off towards the San Guilano Terme. The riders enter the city of the leaning tower via the Pisa Aqueduct.
Stage 11 – Wednesday 21 May
Stage 11 profile
The stage starts relatively easily, but after 80 of the 185 kilometres the route gets much harder. After about two hours of racing, the Giro starts the Alpe San Pellegrino (14.2km at 8.7%). It is a difficult Cat 1 climb with ramps of up to 20%.
Stage 11 map
After a long, twisty descent, there are the climbs to Toano (11.2km at 4.9%) and the Pietra di Bismantova (6.5km at 5.2%). After the summit, there are 5 kilometres of undulating roads before the finish in Castelnovo ne’ Monti. A stage for a break? The GC men might have tired legs after the time trial.
Stage 12 – Thursday 22 May
The sprinters also get their chance in the second week. The first half of the 172 kilometre stage 12 has a few short climbs where an early break can probably make its move, but the finale is flat.
Stage 12 profile
From Modena, there are Cat 3 climbs await to Baiso, Trinita and Rossena, but from 95 kilometres the route has no up or down. At 28 kilometres from the finish, the riders will also pass through the finish in Viadana. Via a local circuit, the peloton comes back to finish in Viadana for the first time in Giro history. A bunch sprint is expected in the Lombardy town next to the Po River
Stage 13 – Friday 23 May
Stage 13 profile
This is a stage for the real puncheurs. From the Veneto region, the route is flat again and the sprinters get another opportunity, two days in a row. Only after the first passage of the finish, the terrain becomes a bit more harder. The climb of Monte Berico comes first and then on the local circuit, the Arcugnano climb is also difficult. A very Liège-Bastogne-Liège style.
Philippe Gilbert took the win in Vicenza in 2015
The Monte Berico (1.1km at 7.5%) has an average gradient of 7.5% over a kilometre, ideal for a real puncheur in Vicenza. Philippe Gilbert caught the escapees at the finish of stage 12 for the win in 2015.
Stage 14 – Saturday 24 May
From Treviso, the fourteenth stage is on flat roads to Nova Goriza/Gorica, an Italian/Slovenian city. The final has a few short climbs, but another bunch sprint is expected.
Stage 14 map and profile
In the final there is the San Martino and Saver climbs in the finale. Although the last climb is of less than 800 metres at 6.4% will not be a problem for the fast-finishers. The sprint is slightly downhill.
Stage 15 – Sunday 25 May
After the easier stages, stage 15 brings down the curtain on the second week. The stage isn’t too hard, but there is the difficult Monte Grappa (25km at 5.8%), the Giro describes it as a ‘pre-Alpine stage’ – a precursor to the real thing in the final week.
Stage 15 map and profile
There is a Cat 2 climb to Dori (16.3km at 5.5%), but there are 30 kilometres to go to the finish in Asiago.
Week two stage map
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