The second of two Sicilian stages, stage 5 of the Giro will provide some relief for the bunch following a day of climbing. Picking up where stage 4 left off at the foot of Mount Etna, the stage begins in the town of Catania, a unique city on the east coast. The island’s second largest city, Catania plays host to grand piazzas, baroque architecture and a UNESCO heritage site.
From Catania, the peloton will travel north along the coast of Sicily, before heading inland and taking on the first of two intermediate sprints. A bunch sprint finish is on the cards for the stage, assuming the sprinters can successfully manage the day’s single categorised climb, the second-category Portella Mandrazzi. At 19.5 kilometres long and with an average gradient of around four per cent, it’s a stringent enough test to find out which of the pure sprinters don’t have their best legs. However, placed just before halfway along the stage’s distance and with 30km of descending to follow, any stragglers should be able to make it back to the bunch with time to spare.
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Following the descent, the final 64km is largely flat and features one further intermediate sprint as the race travels north towards the town of Messina, famously home to the 'Shark of Messina' himself, Vincenzo Nibali. The Astana Qazaqstan rider is unlikely to be afforded the opportunity to go for victory on home soil, though, as the almost inevitable bunch sprint will unfold instead, featuring a strong field of fast men including Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal), Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Fenix), Mark Cavendish (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl), Giacomo Nizzolo (Israel-Premier Tech) and Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ).
Katy Madgwick is a freelance writer and broadcaster, covering multiple disciplines across both men's and women's pro cycling. Katy has written for a broad range of publications, and is a regular contributor to Cyclist Magazine, Cyclingnews, TNT Sports and The Roadbook Cycling Almanack.
On the broadcast side, she is makes regular appearances on Track Radio and is an occasional contributor to BBC Radio, and featured as an expert guest on CADE Media's Pro Show podcast in 2025.
She is a lover of all things French and a cyclo-cross obsessive, and probably ought to get on her actual bike more often.
