Giulio Ciccone will lead Lidl-Trek's overall hopes at the Giro d'Italia, with the exuberant Italian confident he can control his emotions and his performance and emerge as a contender in the final week in the mountains.
There will likely be fewer sunglass-throwing celebrations and more GC calculations and self-control.
Ciccone chased stage victories in the early years of his career with Bardiani and then raced alongside Vincenzo Nibali at Trek-Segafredo. COVID-19 and then saddle sores forced him to miss the 2023 and 2024 Giro d'Italia but he won the polka-dot jersey at the 2023 Tour de France and finished 11th overall.
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This year, Ciccone carries the hopes of a nation, with the Italian tifosi hoping he and Antonio Tiberi of Bahrain Victorious can fly the tricolore for Italy, as Matilda Price highlighted in this special feature about the Italians at the 2025 Giro.
Ciccone has enjoyed a consistent spring, finishing second to Tadej Pogačar at the UAE Tour, fourth overall at the more recent Tour of the Alps after a three-week altitude camp and then was second to Pogačar at Liège-Bastogne-Liège after riding a tactically smart race.
"To tell the truth, I wasn't expected to do so well," Ciccone told La Gazzetta dello Sport in a final interview before travelling to Albania for the Grande Partenza of the Giro d'Italia.
"I wasn't looking for a peak in form, I followed a usual Giro build-up: three weeks at altitude, without a block to freshen up before going to the Tour of the Alps. Now we'll see what happens at the Giro."
The Lidl-Trek Giro d'Italia line-up also includes Mads Pedersen, Søren Kragh Andersen, Alex Kirsch, Daan Hoole, Mathias Vacek, Patrick Konrad, Jacopo Mosca and Carlos Verona. 2020 Giro winner Tao Geoghegan Hart is expected to ride the Tour de France with lead sprinter Jonathan Milan.
Ciccone has won Giro mountain stages to Sestola in 2016, Ponte di Legno in 2019 and Cogne in 2022.
"I've won three stages, so now it's better to finish on the podium. But if I can take the pink jersey while winning the stage, all the better," Ciccone joked.
"It's a tough Giro this year, especially the third week. We'll need good legs and you can gain or lose everything," he warned.
"Of course there are dangers before then; there are a lot of nervous stages that people often underestimate. There's the start in Albania, the stage in my home Abruzzo region and the mountain finish at Tagliacozzo, plus the gravel stage to Siena. If you make a mistake, you'll pay for it."
The Lucca to Pisa 28.6km time trial on stage 10 could be a problem for Ciccone but he is quietly confident he can limit his time losses to Primož Roglič and other GC rivals.
"In truth, I've improved in time trials, we've worked in the wind tunnel, I've trained more on my TT bike and the team has helped me make the best equipment choices and find my best position. I'm optimistic," he said.
Ciccone names Roglič as his favourite, careful to superstitiously pass on any bad luck and pressure. He is also concerned about Michael Storer of Tudor, who won the Tour of the Alps.
"If Storer is as strong in the Giro as he was at the Tour of the Alps, then he'll be the strongest. He was stronger than everybody and not by little. He could be the surprise of the Giro," Ciccone pointed out.
Pedersen will target the expected stage 1 sprint in Albania, the first maglia rosa and then other rolling stages and the cyclamen-coloured points jersey.
Ciccone will take a more GC calculating approach with a major long-term goal.
"Mads Pedersen is our go-to guy for stages, I'll take things calmly. My dream is to pull on the maglia rosa and I hope to do it my way."
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