Primož Roglič: The contender for victory
The Slovenian can be considered the top favourite for the 108th edition of the Giro d'Italia. He has already won the Vuelta a España four times and the Tour of Italy two years ago. His start in May can also be seen as an admission that Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe does not believe Roglič has a particularly good chance of competing with Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard for overall victory in the Tour de France. Both rivals are missing in Italy. His German racing team wants to provide him with a strong escort: Jai Hindley, winner of the 2022 Giro, and last year's runner-up Daniel Felipe Martínez are in the line-up.
Newcomer Juan Ayuso
UAE Team Emirates - XRG is not only the employer of top star Tadej Pogačar, but also a talent pool full of highly talented tour specialists. The Slovenian winner of last year's Giro has ruled out his start in Italy in 2025 - which offers opportunities for the second row: 22-year-old Spaniard Juan Ayuso could be among the front runners in his Giro debut. He has already finished third and fourth at the Vuelta. Alongside veteran Adam Yates, 21-year-old Mexican Isaac del Toro could also prove his talent.
Romain Bardet: Farewell!
The 34-year-old Frenchman has had enough of cycling. He was once considered a candidate to succeed Bernard Hinault as the first French winner of the Tour de France since 1985. But that has come to nothing: Romain Bardet has announced that he will contest the Giro as the last three-week stage race of his career. He will then ride the Dauphiné Tour through his home region of Auvergne. However, the man will continue to provide spectacle in the saddle right to the end.
Rising star Antonio Tiberi
The 23-year-old Italian has already experienced a few ups and downs in his career. The junior time trial world champion experienced his first setback when he was sacked by his team Lidl - Trek; it had become public knowledge that he had shot a cat with an air rifle in his adopted home of San Marino. He was given a new chance with Bahrain - Victorious and is now Italy's hopeful: he wants to finish on the podium.
Georg Steinhauser: Attack department?
The young German made his breakthrough last year when he rode aggressively in the high mountains of the Giro and ultimately won the day's stage up the Passo Brocon. The Allgäuer has good genes - inherited from his father Tobias, once a professional with Gerolsteiner, Bianchi and T-Mobile. As the 2024 season progressed, Steinhauser struggled to confirm the top performance of his Grand Tour debut. This year will show whether, at the age of 23, he will now perhaps aim for a good position in the overall classification - or continue to selectively go on the offensive on individual stages. However, the leader and the man for the overall classification in his US team EF Education - EasyPost is likely to be Olympic champion Richard Carapaz from Ecuador, who has announced his intention to win the Tour of Italy, as he did in 2019.
Wout van Aert: Test ride?
There were rumours for a while before the start of the Giro that the Belgian wanted to do a test run in Italy to see if he could also be among the front runners in the overall standings of a Grand Tour. Strong in individual time trials, winner of two Tour stages on the Mont Ventoux - the 30-year-old has delivered plenty of talent tests. However, new signing Simon Yates is probably Visma | Lease a Bike's first option for a top place.
Andreas Kublik
Editor
