2025 Giro d'Italia stage 11 preview - Mountains return for midweek sparring in the Apennines

The mountains return for a mid-week contest to the Apennines on stage 11, which sets up opportunities for breakaways and a re-ordering of the general classification. The 185km route has two distinct parts, with the start from Viareggio gradually rolling north for 79km and then punching to 1,397 metres in elevation on the 9km climb of the Alpe San Pellegrino. The climb finishes about 1.5 km past the village and features gradients around 20%, which is the toughest section of the entire 2025 Giro.

Then the second half of the race is filled with twisting descents and elevation changes into Castelnovo ne’ Monti. It begins at kilometre 93 with a long, winding descent through the woods of the Apennines. There are a pair of category 2 climbs, first at Toano and then Pietra di Bismantova, with the road rolling across a final 5km to the finish at Castelnovo ne' Monti.

Once inside the final 3km, riders will face an uphill ramp then a short descent into the town centre with some challenging corners The last kilometre is all uphill.

Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates XRG) holds the lead of Giro d'Italia after surviving the rain in Pisa for the individual time trial, and his teammate Juan Ayuso is now just 25 seconds back in second overall. The UAE duo need to be wary of climbers like Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), who is now fifth in the GC standings and just 1:18 back. Just over a minute back are Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) in third and Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike) in fourth. 

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Climbs

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• Alpe San Pellegrino (cat. 1), km. 93.1 (14.2km, avg 8.7%, max 19%)
• Toano (cat. 2), km. 145.9 (11.2km, avg. 4.9%, max 10%)
• Pietra di Bismantova (cat. 2), km. 180.1 (6.5km, avg 5.2% max 12%)

Sprints

• Sprint 1 - Borgo a Mozzano, km. 46.3
• Sprint 2 - Cerredolo, km. 135.9
• Time bonus sprint - Villa Minozzo, km. 162.4