2025 Tour of Italy S7-S13 stage briefing

S7: Steep slope attack, Juan Ayuso won the stage

The Tour of Italy S7 stage started the race. This S7 stage is 168 kilometers. The players need to start from CASTEL DI SANGRO and finally arrive at TAGLIACOZZO. During the period, they will pass through 4 climbing points and two sprint points, and the champion will be decided by the steep slope sprint at the last TAGLIACOZZO.

The stage map of this competition is as follows:

At the beginning of the race, due to the first climb at 7 kilometers, the main group did not directly let the breakaway players go. The first climbing stage was won by LORENZO FORTUNATO (ASTANA), and then the group relaxed control. 7 players launched a long-distance breakaway attack, gradually widening the gap in seconds until the last 5 kilometers, when the big group took them back.

In the breakaway group, although Jayco AlUla won the first place in two climbing points in a row, he had to win the first place in Mount Tagliacozzo to wear the blue jersey if he wanted to counterattack LORENZO FORTUNATO, which was difficult for them because the big group was accelerating.

TREK, the owner of the pink jersey and yellow, gave up the pink jersey at 40km of the race, leaving only Giulio Ciccone in the first group.

In the last climb, UAE and IGD took turns to launch a pull attack. Juan Ayuso (UAE) attacked strongly on the last 500 meters of a steep slope and left a group of climbing masters to win the championship. Another favorite, Primož Roglič, finished 4 seconds behind, but took over the pink jersey after the race with the advantage accumulated in the previous total score.

S8: Breakaway riders achieve victory, Plaphol wins the stage, Ulissi wins the pink jersey

The 2025 Giro d'Italia S8 stage starts from GIULIANOVA and ends at CASTELRAIMONDO, with a total length of 197.8 km, a total of 4 climbing points and 2 sprint points.

At the beginning of the race, 19 players launched a long-distance breakaway attack. The team in the overall score of the large group chose to let the breakaway team go. On the way, Plaphol (Jayco AlUla) relied on his personal time trial ability to break away alone and successfully won the race. Ulissi (ASTNA) relied on his tenacious fighting spirit to finish in third place and took over the pink jersey after the race with a reduction of seconds in the race. Let's review this race below.

The first 60 kilometers of the race were a gentle uphill section. Some people tried to launch an attack, but the big group did not want to let them go. After 60 kilometers, the teams in the overall score chose to stay put. Therefore, the second gap between the big group in the pink jersey and the breakaway group of 19 players in front widened to more than 5 minutes. At this time, there happened to be a player with a total score of 4 minutes.

After the breakaway group saw the intention of the pink jersey group, when passing through Sanoteto Mountain (13.1 kilometers of slope, average slope of 5%), LORENZO FORTUNATO won another victory to further expand its leading advantage in climbing points. Subsequently, the breakaway group continued to split, and many players tried to get rid of their opponents with the help of the long downhill. After 20 kilometers of entanglement, Wilco Keldermann (VISMA), Ulissi (ASTNA), Plaphol (Jayco AlUla), and the pursuit group, where LORENZO FORTUNATO was behind them, and then the pink jersey group that was slacking off.

With 45km left to the finish line, Plaphol decided to launch a solo attack and eventually won his first race of the season.

S9: Strade Bianche, Wout van Aert won the first victory of the season with a last-minute goal!

One of the characteristic stages of the 2025 Tour of Italy S9 is the addition of a diversified Strade Bianche stage, which is theoretically more advantageous for classic racers! Wout van Aert is undoubtedly the favorite for the stage, and he also won the first victory of the season. Let's review this race below.
The total length of this race is 181 km, from GUBBIO to SIENA, passing through 2 sprint points and 2 climbing points. The biggest difficulty is the 5 unpaved "Strade Bianche" sections along the last 70 kilometers. The long, steep slope near the finish line will become the duel field for the players.

In the early stage of the race, the breakaway team formed by several teams, including Alpecin, Cofidis, Intermarché-Circus-Wanty, and Quick-Step, rushed on the track, while the main group controlled the second difference of about 2 minutes. The variation of the race did not change until the last 70 kilometers of the Strade Bianche stage.

After both teams entered the "White Road" stage, TREK led the big group to start the "White Road" pursuit mode. The intensity of this round led to a round of crashes in the big group, and the big group quickly split. The first to fall behind was the ASTANA team that won the pink jersey in the S8 stage. They failed to withstand the pressure and fell behind first, and had to change the pink jersey after the race. Of course, Primož Roglič also fell behind.

As IGD and UAE players accelerated their pursuit, they finally caught up with all the breakaway players in the third "White Road", but at this time there were only 6 players left in this "big group", and the pursuit group behind them was left behind by more than 1 minute, and the championship would be decided among the 6 of them.
Isaac del Toro (UAE) was the first to put "intensity" on other players. He launched two rounds of attacks. The first round of attacks was initially resolved by other players, but the second round of attacks was more persistent. Except for Wout van Aert, who barely kept up, the other players could not withstand the pressure and fell behind, and were ruthlessly caught up by the chasing group behind them. The race once again entered the classic yellow-white battle between the  UAE (white team uniform) and the VISMA team (yellow team uniform).

The two came to the long, steep slope before the finish line. Isaac del Toro tried to launch a strong attack to pull away from  Wout van Aert, but he underestimated Wout van Aert's strength. The latter not only followed him closely but also overtook him before the top of the slope until he crossed the finish line. Wout van Aert won his first championship this season. After the game, he also thought that this victory was very important to him.

S10: Never give up, Horace ITT wins, timely rain

The cloudy weather in the early stages of the race is very suitable for time trial players. The players dare to make moves when turning. Shortly after Horace (TREK) sat on the hot seat, the players behind him encountered heavy rain and failed to challenge him. Horace won his first Tour of Italy victory in his life. Let's review this game below.
The total length of this race is 28.6 km. The slope of this race is relatively low, and the difficulty is relatively low. There is a cobblestone road in the middle of the route, which will have a certain impact on the results of this race. The process before the start of each team is as follows: 40 minutes before the start, warm up on the cycling platform for 30 minutes, and then close your eyes and rest in the waiting area for 10 minutes before preparing to start. At the same time, the countdown is based on the ranking of results.

Everyone tried to finish the race before the weather forecast said it would not rain, and they worked hard to refresh their scores. After Leo Hayter (Quick Step), who started in 22nd place, set a time of 32 minutes and 40 seconds, no one could shake this result for a while.

As Horace (TREK), who started in 43rd place, led Hayter at two timing points along the way, which made Leo Hayter nervously look at the big screen. As Horace set a time of 32 minutes and 30 seconds, Leo Hayter left the "hot seat" sadly.

Then the favorite to win the championship, Josh Tarling (IGD), came out. Although he performed well at the first timing point along the way, he fell behind Horace at the second timing point, and finally had to accept that he was 7 seconds behind Horace and finished the race. After the race, he had no choice but to explain, "It was gloomy today, and I was always worried and praying that it would not rain, which might have distracted me a little."

It started to rain later, which made the players dare not operate and lose a lot of time. In the end, Horace won the ITT stage championship.

S11: Experienced rider Richard Carapaz won the championship solo

Race route. The race is 186 kilometers long, starting from VIAREGGIO and ending at CASTELNOVO NE' MONTI, riding all the way north, passing through 3 climbing points and 2 sprint points. After the start of the race, the climbers will break through and attack to compete for the first climbing point on the way - ALPE SAN PELLEGRINO (13.7 kilometers, average slope 8%) will become their focus.

Since the focus of the race is on the last 100 kilometers of climbing, the teams chose to closely monitor the relatively flat road section in the first 80 kilometers, and the breakout players did not find a suitable opportunity to break through successfully.
When the main group entered the first climbing point of the race - ALPE SAN PELLEGRINO (13.7 kilometers, average slope 8%), more players tried to break through by pulling and attacking. Before entering this mountain, more than 20 players had used the short, steep slope stage to try to open up more than 200 meters from the big group. Their goal was to compete for climbing points.

As more and more players entered the front breakaway group, the breakaway group gradually established a more solid leading advantage. The group was divided again. LORENZO FORTUNATO (Astana), wearing the King of the Hill honor jersey, launched a 10-kilometer climbing solo attack to consolidate the King of the Hill points list. Other players did not choose to follow up. Soon after he won the first place at this climbing point as he wished, other players in the breakaway group gradually caught up with him, and the big group passed the top of the mountain 3 minutes later.

The big group collected all the breakaway players 10 km before the finish line and entered the last climbing point (5.8 km, average slope 5.8%). Richard Carapaz (EF) took advantage of the gap in the assembly to launch a solo attack.
At this time, UAE Team Emirates behind him began to chase, and INEOS Grenadiers also joined in. However, UAE Team Emirates and INEOS Grenadiers were afraid of each other and failed to work together, which also created conditions for Richard Carapaz to expand his lead. In the end, Richard Carapaz won the game!

S12: Wout van Aert's super-long endurance and Olav Kooij's sprint win

The 2025 Giro d'Italia S12 (MODENA— VIADANA (Oglio-Po)) has come to an end. This event is 172 km, with 2 climbing points and 3 sprint points. At the beginning of the race, 3 players broke through 150 kilometers and were caught up by the big group. The big group ushered in a sprint battle. The sprint leader, Olav Kooij, won the race cleanly under the cover of the VISMA team. Let's review this game below.

After the start of the game, 3 players from Polti VisitMalta, Arkéa-Samsic, and VF Group Bardiani-CSF Faizanè launched a breakout attack. The teams behind them chose to stay put and let them break through happily. The breakout trio happily divided the climbing points and sprint points along the way.

As the group rode out of the hills and entered the flat area in the second half of the race, they began to pursue. Finally, they collected all the breakaway players 26 kilometers before the finish line. The race pace accelerated further, reaching an amazing speed of 63 kilometers per hour just to compete for a favorable position in front of the group.

In the first 11 races, the flat sprint stage was basically controlled by Lidl-Trek, but this time, the road was relatively flatter, and the Vismar team was firmly in control of the situation. Entering the last 1 kilometer stage, Wout van Aert was at the forefront, and the sprint leader Kooij followed behind, attracting other teams' sprinters to try to "hitch a ride".
As Wout van Aert led everyone into the 200-meter stage after the last bend, some players couldn't help but try to launch a general attack in advance. Kooij calmly observed for a while and then launched an attack. Because he grasped the timing accurately and cleanly, he won the second game for the Vismar team.

S13: Mads PEDERSEN sprints to win the championship again

The total length of the 2025 Giro d'Italia S13 is 180 km. The players started from ROVIGO, passed through 4 climbing points and 2 sprint points, and went to the finish line of VICENZA. Mads PEDERSEN of the TREK team defeated Wout van Aert in the uphill sprint at the finish line and won the victory. The following is the specific process of this competition.

The overall rhythm of the competition was relatively slow. At the beginning, 9 players broke through 110 kilometers and were caught up by the big group. But then two players from Trek and Team Picnic PostNL took the opportunity to break through again at the climbing points on the way. The big group had to speed up and chase until 1 km before the finish line.

In the last 500 meters, the teams ushered in a sprint competition. Mads PEDERSEN chose to rush on the right, and Wout van Aert followed behind and sucked the tail flow. Unfortunately, he still lost a little in the final sprint. Then Mads PEDERSEN also won the fourth stage of this Tour of Italy, and he is the favorite for the sprint!

Due to the length of the article, this is the end of the introduction of this Tour of Italy. Next, we will usher in the alpine stage, and the overall standings will change greatly. Let us wait and see! You can follow us to receive timely news!

 

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