The hopes of a nation – Can Antonio Tiberi or Giulio Ciccone put Italy back on the Giro d'Italia podium?

Like any big cycling nation, Italy puts a lot of expectation on its stars, especially when the Giro d'Italia comes around. Each rider fits into a different role, an ambition they're meant to fulfill for their country, and everyone has an opinion, even stronger ones when Italy hasn't won the race for nine years. 

Those who do succeed, however, become stars forever, immortalized by the passion of the tifosi and the admiration of the press. Gino Bartali, Fausto Coppi, Vincenzo Nibali, all Italian legends forever, and a list that the world of cycling in Italy is always trying to add to.

These days, Filippo Ganna is Italy's favourite star, the strong, exciting and charismatic rider from Verbania. Jonathan Milan is the big winner, who will hopefully deliver at the Tour de France this year. Giulio Ciccone is the rider who takes the most pressure on his shoulders, the most questioning – he was meant to be the next best thing, but a couple of difficult years have held him back. Antonio Tiberi, quickly forgiven for his past transgression, is the fresh face many are starting to pin their hopes on.

Ganna and Milan will avoid the specific Giro-based scrutiny of the Italian media and fans this year, but instead all eyes will be on GC hopefuls Ciccone and Tiberi, plus the various Italian domestiques and stage hunters who will be on the start line in Albania in two weeks' time. 

Italy is currently in its longest Giro d'Italia win drought in history – no Italian has won since Nibali in 2016, when the last longest winless streak for the nation was five years in the 1990s – so the pressure is ever building. The Italians don't necessarily need a home rider to win this year, and the competition is high, but they need to know there's a chance, that Italy can compete, that someone is on the right path. 

As the Grande Partenza nears, Cyclingnews speaks to and looks at some of the key Italian contenders for this year's Giro d'Italia. From Ciccone and Tiberi and the GC to Damiano Caruso and Alessandro De Marchi and a whole host of promising stage hunters, where are Italy's chances of success in the 2025 Giro?

The new hope, already a podium contender

Lidl-Trek's Ciccone may be the bigger name, but it's Tiberi who should be Italy's big general classification hope for this year's Giro d'Italia, a young rider who has burst onto the scene as a great new talent in Italian stage racing. 

The 23-year-old recently dropped out of the Tour of the Alps with a stomach illness, but otherwise his path to the Giro has been marked by successes, including third overall at Tirreno-Adriatico, and he knows what the expectations will be this month.

"This year, I will be in the top two [Italian] contenders, and this also gives me more morale and I feel more – not pressure – but more confident, and I want to show what I can do," he told Cyclingnews last week.

"For me, for my character, it's more exciting [to be a favourite]. Fortunately, I don't feel the pressure much. Maybe this year a bit more, but it's super good for me because I think for me it's the best race of the year – the Giro d'Italia in my country, with my people, so it's super nice for me."

In 2024, Tiberi came into the Giro somewhat under the radar, his debut at a Grand Tour and less than a year into his tenure at Bahrain Victorious, and he very quickly proved what he was capable of. He finished fifth overall, taking home the best young rider's jersey, with an impressively consistent three weeks. In 2025, he knows exactly what he's capable of.

"Last year in this period of the season, it was the first time that the team had given me the opportunity to be the leader in a Grand Tour like the Giro. This year, I know what I did last year, I know my potential and what I can do, so for sure I'm more confident," he said.

"It was a bit of a surprise [to do so well], yes, because it was the first time for me, so I was a bit surprised. There I really realised what I can do if everything goes well and if I put all my best into what I'm doing, so that for sure gives me more motivation for this year."

If last year was something of a test and surprise, this year has been the opposite. Tiberi's season has been built around the Giro, following a similar training and racing plan to last year – with a bit of added load and gym work – and prioritising recons of key stages. He's already ridden the Lucca time trial, on his TT bike, and is hoping the weather allows for a recon of the Colle delle Finestre stage and a final trip to altitude at Sestriere before Albania.

Though some riders, particularly less experienced ones, are hesitant to nail down their exact ambition for a Grand Tour like the Giro, Tiberi's strong preparations have left him with one clear goal.

"For sure, I would like to go on the GC podium this year," he said. "That would be a super nice progression for me, and from what I saw last year, that's something that I can do. Without the problem in Oropa last year, maybe I would already be on the podium, I don't know. But for sure, my goal for this year is the podium."

At only 23, Tiberi has come a long way in a short time to arrive at the Giro as a serious contender, but it hasn't always been a smooth path. The biggest threat to his burgeoning career was not anything physical, but an off-the-bike transgression. In 2023, the Italian shot and killed a cat with an air rifle, and subsequently had his contract terminated by Trek-Segafredo, leading to a mid-season move to Bahrain Victorious. 

Though the Italian media and fans have largely forgiven Tiberi – perhaps more so than the international cycling world – it was not the start to his pro career that the former junior world champion would have expected. In hindsight, however, it might have been a blessing in disguise. 

"I think it was helpful for me, because it was a restart, but I had to grow up," he explained. "I started with more focus and knowing what I had to do, and with specific objectives all the time. Here in Bahrain, I found a super good team that gives me all the opportunities I need to improve on the GC stage races, and that is what I really want to do, so I think it's better for me like this."

Of course, it all depends how the race pans out, but with Tiberi's results so far this year, his strength in the TTs, and his consistency paired with the fewer mountain-top finishes in this year's route, the Italian looks like a clear contender to battle with the like of Primož Roglič and Juan Ayuso for the podium.

Burdened shoulders with a point to prove

Though Tiberi may be, on paper, the better GC contender, that doesn't mean his compatriot and former teammate Ciccone is escaping expectations, from himself or from the outside. 

If Ganna is Italy's golden boy, and Tiberi is the exciting fresh face, Ciccone is the one who has had to take the burden of criticism and questioning after various setbacks have perhaps limited his achievements, when some wanted more from him. 

With such a strong field at this year's Giro, and Ciccone being quieter about his ambitions than he was ahead of last year's abortive GC attempt, the 30-year-old is perhaps not in the elite group of top contenders along with the likes of Roglič and Ayuso, but that's not necessarily a bad thing for the rider so used to the pressure. 

"I prefer it this way. I would rather not be among the favourites and then prove that I'm supposed to be there," Ciccone said during the Tour of the Alps, where he won the opening stage and finished fourth overall. 

With the experience of two difficult years under his belt, Ciccone has been hesitant to define exactly what he wants to aim for or achieve in Italy this year, looking at the situation more holistically and keeping his cards close to his chest, perhaps to keep weighty expectations at bay.

"My goal is to be able to get to the start line of the Giro and be able to say 'OK, I did all I could, I'm in my best shape'," he said. "Over the past years, I couldn't do that because there's always been some kind of problem. This time, I won't jinx it, but I think things are going right. We're not there yet, but we're getting there, so I need to keep focused. I don't want to say exactly what I want to do, I don't want to say my dreams too much, I just want to focus and get to the start with a calm state of mind."

For a rider once known for his punchy, stage-winning abilities, Ciccone has steadily begun to transform himself into a stronger climber and stage race contender, and it's only some setbacks that have held him back from a proper attempt at a good GC race. 

"I think that over the last few years I've grown and become more mature," he said. "Last year was not very good for me, because I had major surgery in winter, so the season started quite late with not optimal training, so I'd say it was a transit year. 

"This year, we're starting fresh. The winter training and preparation was good, we had a good plan with the team, and I think we're keeping up with it, so I think we're working towards our goal."

The key thing for the Giro, and perhaps the missing piece in Ciccone's GC attempts so far – he's never won a stage race of any level, after all – has been time trialling, and that's been a key part of the work Lidl-Trek have done this season. 

"I lost the top 10 in the Tour because of the last TT, so I've worked more on that, and we've tried to improve," he said. "This year I've done already two time trials, and I'd say they went much better than normally, so this was one of the main goals to reach for the GC. Of course, the whole race is really important, but in my case, the worst thing was the time trial."

Though he missed the podium at the Tour of the Alps, Ciccone went on to take second behind Tadej Pogačar at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, in a week that will have boosted his confidence and his stocks ahead of the Giro d'Italia. The podium would be a big ask, but after two years of absence, and some impressive Tour de France performances in between, Ciccone's Giro chances are looking the strongest they have maybe ever been.

Faithful elder statesmen and exciting stage hunters

Although an Italian hasn't won the Giro in nine years, they have not been far off the podium, with Damiano Caruso finishing second behind Egan Bernal in 2021.

At 37, Caruso is one of the oldest riders in the race this year, and will likely ride in support of his teammate – and race roommate – Antonio Tiberi, and Pello Bilbao, for Bahrain Victorious, acting as one of the other tricks up Tiberi's sleeve.

"I'm an old guy now in cycling, but I can give to him my experience," Caruso said of Tiberi. "He's also smart because he likes to listen, and he knows that I'm trying to give to him what is good for him. I think so far it works."

But as well as his vital experience, Caruso proved at the Tour of the Alps that he's far from finished as a racer in his own right. After Tiberi's abandon, the veteran Italian dutifully stepped up into a plan B leader role, climbing with the best on the hardest stages and finishing sixth overall. The Giro is, of course, a different challenge, but he's very much proved he's not done yet and will be a key part of the Bahrain team.

Joining Caruso in the veterans club is Jayco-AlUla's Alessandro De Marchi, who will race his final Giro ahead of retiring this year. He'll mainly support the likes of Chris Harper and Luke Plapp, but like Caruso, he's still been winning as recently as last year, so his days as a racer for his own results are still going, especially in his final home Grand Tour.

And even outside the GC riders and their respective domestiques, there's plenty of hope for Italy to win stages at the Giro. Unlike the home nations at the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España, Italian riders have rarely struggled to win stages at the Giro, and that streak is unlikely to end this year.

The exciting Davide Piganzoli of Polti VisitMalta – though likely on his way to a WorldTour team next year – will hope to be one of the traditional ProTeam revelations of the race, following in the footsteps of Giulio Pellizzari, who returns here in Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe colours. 

Tour of the Alps stage winner Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech) will hope to finally break his duck at his home race. Filippo Zana will be another climbing option for Jayco-AlUla, Andrea Vendrame (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) could add a third Giro stage win to his palmarès, and XDS Astana will count on a whole crop of Italians in their ever-successful hunt for UCI points.

In Italy, a country that reveres its cyclists, there will be pressure on all these riders, stage hunters and GC hopefuls alike. However, if they are successful, the rewards and celebration will be great.

The favourite son Ganna may not be set to race, and the task of an Italian beating Roglič or Ayuso to end the winning drought may be tough, but in Ciccone, Tiberi and a whole host of other exciting riders, Italy's hopes at this Giro look promising. The pressure is high, but so is the talent, and the hoped-for podium finish should surely follow once the race arrives in Rome.

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