A risk of rain, a fast TT, steep climbs and sprint chances – Giro d'Italia week 2 Preview
The Corsa Rosa rides from Tuscany, via Garfagnana, to the Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Week two of the 2025 Giro d'Italia should inspire another block of uncontrollable racing, with a vital time trial to Pisa, some little-known and some legendary climbs, a chance for the sprinters, one for the finesseurs, plus constantly changing weather, with a risk of rain.
We will see if Juan Ayuso can reclaim team leadership at UAE Team Emirates-XRG from his friendly upstart Isaac del Toro, if Primož Roglič can pull back the minute he lost on the Strade Bianche gravel roads and if Mads Pedersen and Lidl-Trek can continue to dominate the sprint stages.
The racing resumes on Tuesday with the 28.6km stage 10 time trial from Lucca to Pisa, where every second will count in the GC battle. That is followed by an unheralded but brutal mountain stage through Garfagnana, across 3,800 metres of climbing, towards Modena, where the GC riders will have to perform again on very different and demanding terrain.
Stage 13 from Modena to Viadana is largely flat, while Friday's stage to Vicenza ends with the 1km ramp up to the Santuario di Monte Berico that overlooks the city.
Stage 14 is another sprint day to the Slovenian border and the cross-border city of Gorizia-Nova Gorica, the 2025 European city of culture. The stage seems a snoozer, but the 26.4km city-centre finishing circuit will be a test of nerves and bike skills for everyone in the peloton.
Sunday's 15th stage is another cruel switch to the mountains, with a 214km ride over the Monte Grappa mid-stage and then a later 16.4km ramp to Dori and the Assiago high plain.
The rain will be an extra factor and an extra challenge in week two of the Giro. It's still spring-like in central Italy, rather than the warm and sunny early-summer weather the Giro often enjoys.
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Rain is forecast for some time on Tuesday afternoon, when the GC riders are due to clash between four and five in the afternoon, with sudden strong winds from the south also blowing against the riders.
There is also a risk of rain for the stage that climbs into the Apennines on Wednesday, with up to 20mm of rain likely on the ride to Vicenza. The sun will only emerge with force at the weekend.
Back in action for the Lucca-Pisa time trial
The riders enjoyed a quiet, relaxed rest day, spread between the Tuscan coast near Viareggio and Pisa.
Taco van der Hoorn went looking for the leaning tower of Pisa and enjoyed Italian gelato, while others were careful to make zone three efforts to keep their engines revving. Some checked out the time trial course, but the official reconnaissance ride comes on closed roads on Tuesday morning.
The 28.6km individual time trial from Lucca to Pisa will be nail-biting to watch but tough to ride. It seems to suit the specialist like stage 2 winner Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers) and European champion Eduardo Affini (Visma-Lease A Bike), who knows how to push a big gear while staying aero.
The course is largely flat and fast, but starts with a loop of Lucca on a path along the city walls.
The main road cuts through the hills south via the 950-metre Monti Pisani tunnel to San Giuliano Terme before entering Pisa from the east for a section along the Arno river and cutting into the historic city centre for the finish alongside the spectacular Leaning Tower of Pisa and the white marble Duomo.
Roglič and Ayuso will be hoping to straighten their overall ambition, while the 28.6km course will test Del Toro's GC ambitions and his ability to handle the pressure and race in the maglia rosa.
A warm southerly wind will blow in the afternoon, holding off the rain until the clouds burst, sometime in the afternoon. Those who lost time on Sunday, slipped down the GC, and so will start the time trial 30 minutes or so earlier, could avoid the worst of the rain in a reversal of fortunes.
High into the Apennines
The Giro d'Italia always includes a less-famed mountain stage, and this year's climbs high into the Garfagnana valley and the Tosco-Emilia Apennines between Viareggio and Castelnuovo ne' Monti.
The 185km stage has been rated just three stars by many experts, but it will be a real test for the GC riders, given the terrible San Pellegrino in Alpe climb mid-stage as well as the constant rolling and twisting roads that lead to the finish.
The Giro last climbed San Pellegrino in Alpe 25 years ago when Franceso Casagrande won the stage to Abetone. He cracked Marco Pantani and gained 1:39 on Stefano Garzelli on the steep slopes of the climb. Garzelli and Pantani later combined to defeat Casagrande, but the stage showed the dangers of the Tuscan climb.
It is 13.7km long, with an average gradient of 8.8%. It starts with 4km at 9.4%, eases in the middle, and then steepens to 12.1% for the final 2.5km.
The 1,623-metre high summit is followed by a 40km descent on country roads to the foot of the gradual 11.1km Toano climb. More twisting descents lead to the final Pietra di Bismantova climb, which leads close to the finish.
If anyone is dropped early on the San Pellegrino in Alpe, there will be no way back to the front of the race, with huge time losses inevitable. Someone will surely be caught out this year.
A break is likely to go clear, but whoever goes on the attack will have to be sure of their climbing ability if they want to hold off the GC riders, who will also be fighting for the Red Bull Kilometre, placed just 23km from the finish.
To the River Po, Vicenza and the northeast
Thursday's stage 12 is geographically completely different to stage 11, with the 172km ride from Modena to the banks of the River Po on valley or flat roads.
The sprinters' team will surely not let their chance of success go after suffering in the recent mountains, the Strade Bianche gravel and the Lucca-Pisa time trial.
The stage includes a 26.6km circuit and a sharp turn left into the 450m long finishing straight. A leadout needs to go beyond the corner and then accelerate towards the line. It seems perfect for another Mathias Vacek-Mass Pedersen combo, unless Wout Van Aert and Olav Kooij can work well together.
Week 2 of the Giro includes several transfer stages that take the race north from Tuscany into the Veneto and then east to Friuli-Venezia Giulia, on a cultural and geographical journey of discovery.
Stage 13 from Rovigo to Vicenza starts on the flat roads of the Po delta, heads towards Verona to remember Davide Rebellin and then to the Vicenza hills for a 20.3km circuit he would have loved to race on.
There are three steep 'muro' Monte Berico climbs in the final 20km, each less than a kilometre long but at 9%. The Red Bull Kilometre is again late, 10km from the finish, with the finish line atop the last climb overlooking Vicenza.
It will be a stage for a finesseur like Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier-Tech) or even Tom Pidcock (Q36.5), or perhaps even Mads Pedersen again. The GC riders will also have to be vigilant and protected to avoid any crashes and slits in the peloton.
Stage 14 is from Treviso, the home of Pinarello, Benetton and many other industrial groups, to Gorizia-Nova Gorica on the Slovenian border. The 195km stage heads northeast on flat roads north of Venice and Portoguaro, with only a short hill after 157km in Goniace.
The 26.4km Gorizia-Nova Gorica finishing circuit crosses between Italy and Slovenia and unites the town, their now combined cultures and their love of cycling. The circuit climbs the Saver hill twice but will have little impact on the sprint showdown, with the finish on a flat road near the station.
Week two ends with a day in the mountains, heading east from Fiume Vento to Asiago, which overlooks the Vento plains. The 219km stage is a day of two halves, with a flat 103km only disturbed by a visit to the Ca' del Poggio climb, which celebrates the region's Prosecco wine.
The climb of Monte Grappa marks the start of the second half of the stage. The constant 7.5% Strada Cadorna road is climbed from the south. Monte Grappa is 25km long, but comes with 90km still to race.
It is another day for a brave breakaway. If there is any GC action, it will be on the later climb to Enego (16.4km at 5.4%) and on the rolling high plain road afterwards.
The high mountains, the most decisive moments of the race, come in the third week of the Giro, which begins on Tuesday, May 27, with the stage to San Valentino near Trento and then on to Bormio over the Mortirolo.
Week two is an intermezzo of ever-changing, ever-different racing, as the Giro d'Italia has been so far this year and should always be.
Giro d'Italia week 2 stage profiles
Stephen is one of the most experienced members of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. Before becoming Editor-at-large, he was Head of News at Cyclingnews. He has previously worked for Shift Active Media, Reuters and Cycling Weekly. He is a member of the Board of the Association Internationale des Journalistes du Cyclisme (AIJC).
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