One of the most historical races in the mangame with history going back to 2009. In the start this was a playground for Italian riders with Cunego winning the 3 first additions before Ricco won in 2012. In this time there was even only Italians on the podium with Sella having 3 2nd places.
In 2013 we had the first non-italian winner in Phinney before Cunego won again in 2014. After that however we have had no Italian winners, in fact we have had no Italian podiums after Cunego got 3rd place in 2015, Italian cycling sure has gone downhill.
Other than Cunego having 4 wins Andy Schleck and Silvio Herklotz are 2nd best with 2 wins. Herklotz with his second last year. Other legends who has won here are Pluschkin, Alarcon, Spilak and Taaramae. Then you also have the shock that was 2023 with Chen Sikhai winning, who had that on their Bingo-board?
Last season as already mentioned Herklotz got his second win while also winning the points jersey. Brit Hugh Carthy got 2nd while also sharing KOM while Pierre Latour got 3rd.
Honor roll
Year
Winner
Runner-up
Third
Points
KOM
U25
2024
HERKLOTZ Silvio
CARTHY Hugh
LATOUR Pierre
HERKLOTZ Silvio
CARTHY Hugh / FORMOLO Davide
LEKNESSUND Andreas
2023
SIKHAI Chen
DOMBROWSKI Joe
HAIG Jack
AHLSTRAND Jonas
PINOT Thibaut
FOUCHE James
2022
LECUISINIER Pierre-Henri
BERNAL Egan
SIVAKOV Pavel
DEMARE Arnaud
SMITH Dion
BERNAL Egan
2021
HERKLOTZ Silvio
DOMBROWSKI Joe
KUDUS Merhawi
HERKLOTZ Silvio
CARBONI Giovanni
ARERUYA Joseph
2020
TAARAMÄE Rein
KRITSKIY Timofey
HAIG Jack
DEMARE Arnaud
CARAPAZ Richard
MALECKI Kamil
2019
SPILAK Simon
HERKLOTZ Silvio
GESINK Robert
HERKLOTZ Silvio
GOOS Marc
HERKLOTZ Silvio
2018
SCHLECK Andy
DOMBROWSKI Joe
AMADOR Andrei
SCHLECK Andy
CHOI Ki Ho
LECUISINIER Pierre-Henri
2017
ALARCON Jose
VELITS Peter
MORTON Lachlan
ALARCON Jose
ALARCON Jose
MORTON Lachlan
2016
PLUCHKIN Aleksandr
ALARCON Jose
MADRAZO Angel
PLUCHKIN Aleksandr
DALL'OSTE Daniele
WELLENS Tim
2015
SCHLECK Andy
MADRAZO Angel
CUNEGO Damiano
MADRAZO Angel
FAIERS Thomas
PINOT Thibaut
2014
CUNEGO Damiano
PLUCHKIN Aleksandr
MADRAZO Angel
CUNEGO Damiano
GOMEZ MARCHANTE José Angel
DOMBROWSKI Joe
2013
PHINNEY Taylor
MADRAZO Angel
SPILAK Simon
PHINNEY Taylor
KÖNIG Leopold
PHINNEY Taylor
2012
RICCO Riccardo
SELLA Emanuele
POZZOVIVO Domenico
RICCO Riccardo
SELLA Emanuele
HENAO MONTOYA Sergio Luis
2011
CUNEGO Damiano
SELLA Emanuele
NIBALI Vincenzo
CUNEGO Damiano
SELLA Emanuele
HENAO MONTOYA Sergio Luis
2010
CUNEGO Damiano
PELLIZOTTI Franco
RICCO Riccardo
CUNEGO Damiano
CUNEGO Damiano
NIBALI Vincenzo
2009
CUNEGO Damiano
SELLA Emanuele
PELLIZOTTI Franco
CARRARA Matteo
SELLA Emanuele
-
2024
1
Silvio Herklotz
Team Puma - SAP
86h08'37
2
Hugh Carthy
Carlsberg - Danske Bank
+ 3'23
3
Pierre Latour
Polar
+ 5'48
4
Daan Olivier
Sony - Force India
+ 6'44
5
Ryan Eastman
Oxxo - Frisby
+ 7'08
6
Ki Ho Choi
ZARA - Irizar
+ 7'15
7
Colin Stüssi
Jura GIANTS
+ 7'20
8
Joao Almeida
MOL Cycling Team
+ 8'29
9
Jan Hirt
Moser - Sygic
+ 9'00
10
Tim Wellens
Fastned
+ 9'29
GC Favorites
*****
Name
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
Kudus
85
82
78
72
79
77
79
Last years TDF winner Kudus is coming to Italy this year and must live with being the big favorite. The best climber present who is also a good puncheur and an ok timetrialer, this is his race to loose
****
Name
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
Pogacar
83
80
76
76
79
80
80
Pogacar is a very good number 2 in this race just a small tier behind Kudus. He's better on timetrials and might've wished we would have more of them here, but is just a bit weaker climbing both mountains and hills. Still with his skills and his energy stats he might end up winning this, and should at least fight very hard for a podium
***
Name
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
Morton
83
79
75
72
78
77
77
Bernal
82
78
74
81
80
80
82
Behind Pogacar we have 2 strong, but a bit different riders. Morton pretty much is a weaker version of Kudus. Same TT but weaker climbing, weaker hill and weaker energy stats. Still a very strong rider who well can win this if everything goes his way. Bernal is another kind of rider, and another rider who might've wanted more TT kms. He might be the main favorite for stage 11 with his extremely strong TT, but he is also a good climber, an okay puncheur and got the best energy stats of all riders.
**
Name
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
Dombrowski
82
78
73
69
77
75
75
McNulty
82
78
74
77
75
77
77
Carthy
81
78
75
67
77
76
78
Aular
81
77
72
70
76
75
77
The American pair Dombrowski and McNulty are here trying to repeat what Phinney did in 2013 and getting USA its first Giro Victory in 12 years. Dombrowski is the aging star and the oldes among the favorites but still a great climber. This could be the last year he can really fight at this level. McNulty however is young and upcoming and a strong climber who combines it with a good TT.
Carthy is a pure climber who I believe are happy that we only have one long TT here, he will need to attack in the mountains to get time, but there should be enough mountains present for him to do that! He finished as a runner-up last year, could he copy or even better that? I believe there are stronger riders present, but anything could happen over 21 days!
The last 2 star favorite is Venezuelan Aular. His main strenght is in the mountains and he looks a lot like Dombrowski, just a bit weaker.
*
Name
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
Giannoutsos
80
76
72
72
76
78
75
Wellens
80
77
73
70
76
77
73
Olivier
80
78
75
68
75
79
75
Champoussin
79
79
79
61
76
76
77
Kirsch
79
77
74
71
75
73
75
Foss
79
76
72
77
77
79
79
Stüssi
79
76
73
75
77
73
78
Darbellay
79
75
71
76
73
75
77
The last group that should fight for the top GC spots are a group consisting of climbers like Giannoutsos, Wellens, Olivier and Kirsch. All great climbers, just not a the level of those in the stronger groups. Olivier is a bit better puncheur than the others, while being a weaker TT rider.
Champoussin is another kind of rider than the others, and among all riders mentioned here he is the best puncheur and he is also riding for a team who has momentum this season in Rabobank, could he fly on their form and overachieve? On the other hand he is a really weak TT rider and will need to make up time for that.
Foss, Stüssi and Darbellay are better TTers than the others mentioned. Foss specially here combines this with great backups.
Sprinters
Name
FL
ST
RC
SP
AC
Gaviria
76
74
80
83
84
Groenewegen
73
74
85
82
81
Kanter
75
75
77
81
80
Van Poppel
72
74
78
81
78
Halvorsen
76
74
80
81
80
Kemboi
78
74
81
80
80
Vesely
72
73
74
80
79
Kragh Andersen
76
68
76
80
75
Bonifazio
79
68
71
80
80
Gaviria is the big name here and the biggest favorite on all the flay stages, also with his climbing skills he is the sprinter most likely to do well late in the race. Indosat also has a great train here with Nur Hasan, Trondsen and Baska.
Behind Gaviria we have several strong sprinters like Groenewegen, Kemboi, Kanter, Van Poppel, Halvorsen and Bonifazio. All strong sprinters with different strenghts.
Special mention to Kanter's train who got both Gross and Steimle present. A really strong train
Kragh Andersen and Vesely are also sprinters capable of doing well, but Andersen has lost some accelleration while Vesely has the weakest backup stats (together with Bonifazio, but he is a better flat rider) in this group
There are several other strong sprinters present, like Ovsyannikov and Contreras who can fight at the front
Time trials
Name
TT
PR
Bernal
81
76
Ganna
80
82
Ferreyra
78
77
Leung
78
82
Andersen
70
83
Kemboi
63
81
Larsen
74
80
Groselj
77
79
Milan
77
79
Affini
77
78
There are 2 stages intersting for the TT riders. First stage will give someone the pink jersey, and we know why Andersen is here. He will be the biggest favorite for the stage and he will know already after 1 stage if the Giro was a success for him or not.
Ganna and Leung are his main competitors, but also riders who are here for stage 11 where they most likely will battle with Bernal (who might be the favorite for the stage) and Ferreyra
Kemboi would want to use stage 1 as a way into the points jersey with the sprint stages coming afterwards. A perfect race for him would be getting both the pink and the points jersey for the first days. Larsen is another rider who are both strong in sprints and prl and might hope for a strong first week!
Stage hunters
Name
FL
HI
ST
RS
SP
AC
FG
Kinoshita
71
81
77
74
66
74
71
Müller
70
80
76
71
66
73
75
Trakhov
68
79
78
74
69
75
70
Gebrezgabihier
68
79
74
74
67
69
77
Van Dijke
69
78
74
75
71
74
76
Madouas
74
77
76
73
73
73
66
Konychev
82
67
77
78
76
75
76
Kurianov
79
65
76
74
75
70
72
Sweeny
78
71
67
76
69
71
74
Ansons
78
70
73
72
73
76
72
Christensen
78
70
76
74
68
65
71
Groselj
78
66
74
78
73
72
69
This is a varied group, from the puncheur specialists like Kinoshita, to the leadout/sprinter/rolour Konychev to the more pure rolours like Christensen and Sweeny. All in all this us just a group of riders I can see use their skills to go for at least one stage win on different stages and that should be watched.
U25
Name
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
Stöckli
77
76
61
71
70
74
Gloag
76
74
61
73
74
73
Krasts
76
72
73
72
72
72
Karatsivis
76
72
70
72
74
73
Balmer
76
73
74
74
75
70
Ayuso
75
71
73
75
72
73
Zambanini
75
75
59
74
70
72
Stöckli is the biggest favorite for the U25 jersey as he is the best climber and puncheur, still he might end up racing for Kudus and that might weaken his chances. Behind him we have a pretty even field with Zambanini and Gloag being the best puncheurs while Balmer is the best TTer. Also Krasts, Karatsivis or Ayuso could run away with this here. The U25 battle could be a really tight and interesting one!
Aker is pretty much all about the flat stages here with Groenewegen as the sprinter leader, Kragh Andersen as the prl specialist and a strong leadout train. Konychev could both be a good leadout here, but also a rider who at times can go for his own chances. Williams is the main climber and while he can climb he will be pretty underwhelming considering other climbers present
Bralirwa - Cegeka
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Girmay
77
64
68
71
61
76
76
77
79
77
76
64
71
65
Habimana
73
65
70
74
62
73
72
65
75
66
71
75
68
66
Marte
70
65
69
72
65
72
71
68
73
66
68
72
67
62
Uhiriwe
73
64
66
68
75
71
71
67
60
63
68
75
65
75
Munyaneza
67
63
69
74
61
73
70
66
58
57
74
77
69
60
Berhane
58
72
71
69
57
71
68
66
57
58
60
68
74
56
Masengesho
65
62
63
63
63
68
68
67
57
72
71
80
72
62
Vervenne
69
61
65
69
71
71
68
66
65
60
60
64
56
70
Bralirwa is here for 3 things, Girmay to sprint (without a train), breakaways and learning. A lot of young riders present who should be willing to join any break. Could they be lucky?
Carlsberg - Danske Bank
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Carthy
71
81
78
75
67
77
76
78
56
60
69
65
65
65
Eg
67
77
74
71
74
76
74
75
59
60
68
66
65
72
Hellemose
69
75
75
75
61
72
73
75
62
63
71
73
71
61
Krigbaum
76
69
70
70
74
74
75
73
62
65
64
70
69
73
Gogl
69
69
73
76
62
74
72
71
57
67
75
73
69
63
Skivild
66
74
73
71
71
70
74
69
57
58
68
64
68
73
Le Berre
71
64
68
72
65
72
71
68
71
66
66
72
67
62
Kragh Andersen
76
53
58
63
64
68
72
76
52
80
75
59
60
74
Carlsberg are here to support Carthy trying to copy his great result from last year, Eg and Hellemose are good support riders who should be able to support him up the mountains before he fights the other big guns. The ageing sprinter Kragh Andersen is also sent here to fight for the flat stages, he is not as strong as he once was but can still pick up a stage here
Cedevita
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Pogacar
70
83
80
76
76
79
80
80
51
63
72
69
66
75
Hocevar
68
77
76
75
64
69
68
70
54
66
75
72
70
65
Papanov
68
76
75
73
73
73
73
76
54
65
67
68
66
77
Zumer
69
73
71
69
56
71
76
63
56
65
77
74
83
57
Selimovic
71
73
72
70
60
74
77
73
62
65
76
75
74
66
Nikiema
69
70
74
77
62
72
74
72
65
70
76
74
71
63
Chumil
66
74
73
71
71
73
72
72
55
62
67
67
68
71
Groselj
78
58
62
66
77
74
78
71
67
73
72
69
70
79
Here we come to a team with one of the big favorites! Pogacar got a strong team present here to support him with Hocevar and Papanov as the strongest helpers. With this focus it will be how Tadej does that will decide if Cedevita are happy after the race. Top 2 GC and maybe a stage or 2 for Pogacar? Success. Outside of podium? Failure. Other than Tadej Groselj could be a decent bet to get a stage win with his strong flat, prl and TT.
cyceYorkshire
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Morton
69
83
79
75
72
78
77
77
53
56
66
67
67
72
Harper
67
75
74
73
62
71
72
74
60
65
74
72
65
62
Berwick
65
74
74
73
62
67
71
70
60
61
72
72
67
63
Albanese
71
69
71
73
59
72
75
70
62
71
75
76
71
60
Dujardin
76
65
68
70
61
74
78
69
67
72
78
73
76
67
Buratti
70
58
62
66
58
71
72
62
53
75
73
70
67
65
Scott
72
63
65
66
56
72
71
74
61
78
78
60
64
57
Kemboi
78
62
63
64
63
74
77
81
50
80
80
61
68
81
cycleYorkshire are here riding two horses. Morton for the GC and Kemboi for the sprints/prl. Morton is one of the 3 strongest climbers and one of the clear competitors for the win/podium this year, his support team is however a bit weaker than what the other main candidates got, could that be his doom? Harper is his strongest climbing domestique. The reason for the weaker support might be that the team has decided to send a strong sprint team lead by Kemboi with Scott and Buratti as a leadout and Dujardin as a strong flat leadout/domestique. Will be interesting to see if the tactic will work and the team will win several stages while getting a podium, or if the split of the team will weaken both?
EA Vesuvio
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Kirsch
70
79
77
74
71
75
73
75
67
68
67
62
62
71
Wirtgen
70
75
75
75
64
73
72
74
58
66
68
70
69
64
Bax
71
68
73
77
68
77
73
73
62
65
68
74
73
68
Affini
73
66
67
67
77
76
79
72
64
64
70
73
68
78
Curley
73
60
65
69
69
72
70
69
71
67
68
74
71
70
Sweeck
73
62
65
68
68
71
72
62
76
70
71
67
75
71
A small team of only 6 riders from the Luxemburgian team, lead by Kirsch, Wirtgen (Luc) is here as a support rider in his try to a good GC position, while Bax is here to try to get a stage win and Affini will see what he can do in the TTs. All in all a weak team here with the team most likely prioritizing other races.
ELCO - ABEA
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Giannoutsos
68
80
76
72
72
76
78
75
57
64
68
75
67
77
Vine
69
77
76
75
66
69
77
77
61
67
75
76
63
70
Christakos
69
77
75
72
70
69
74
72
58
61
70
74
70
73
Karatsivis
70
76
74
72
70
72
74
73
60
64
74
74
67
69
Davies
65
73
72
70
74
71
72
73
55
61
69
64
65
74
Kinoshita
71
70
76
81
64
77
74
70
57
66
74
71
69
64
Zingle
75
62
65
68
60
70
75
77
63
78
78
64
66
65
Welsford
73
59
62
64
64
68
69
72
65
75
75
64
65
66
ELCO seems to be trying to do 3 things this Giro. Kinoshita is one of the strongest puncheurs present and will most likely try to win at least one of the hilly stages, and Zingle is an okay sprinter with a leadout rider in Welsford who might hope to fight for some of the flat stages. The main attraction however is the climber Giannoutsos who hopes to fight for a top 5 GC. His support team in Vine, Christakos, Karatsivis and Davies is a strong one and should be able to put him in good positions. Still, I am a bit afraid his hilly skills might be his doom with other GC riders being stronger here
Evonik - ELKO
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Foss
69
79
76
72
77
77
79
79
66
60
69
68
66
72
Arndt
69
77
76
74
54
74
73
67
61
69
72
59
62
54
Krasts
70
76
74
72
73
72
72
72
59
66
70
73
73
73
Calmejane
73
70
73
76
66
72
75
72
59
71
75
77
69
69
Ansons
78
68
69
70
71
73
72
70
69
73
76
72
69
70
Kurianov
79
65
65
65
62
76
74
76
71
75
70
72
70
64
Holowesko
70
72
72
72
70
70
69
70
57
59
67
70
68
71
Ovsyannikov
74
61
65
68
64
75
72
80
79
79
78
71
73
64
Ovsyannikov has been dissapointing in the cobble classics, could he do better here as the main sprinter of Evonik? Will be interesting to see. He dosen't really have and leadout, but Kurianov and Ansons are really strong rolours who themself might fight for some stage wins and Calmejane is another rider who can be really dangerous if he finds the right break. The main GC hope is Foss, a strong climber and TTer who should hope to get some time on his competition on stage 11 and then ride that to a good GC position. Arndt and Krasts are a good support team for him
Fastned
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Wellens
70
80
77
73
70
76
77
73
60
61
65
62
68
70
Schelling
72
77
75
72
70
76
74
72
63
62
67
72
67
72
Vanhoucke
71
77
75
72
72
71
72
76
63
67
68
72
70
73
Teuns
67
74
76
77
63
71
71
74
50
65
70
69
64
59
Hopkins
70
60
63
65
68
72
68
73
55
77
77
63
68
75
Lopez
64
74
73
71
67
68
71
69
58
62
66
63
63
65
Loland
71
64
66
68
63
70
74
68
66
67
73
74
73
63
Vesely
72
59
63
67
56
73
67
74
56
80
79
60
70
56
Another team who splits their focus between a sprinter in Vesely and a GC hope in Wellens. The support team is focused on helping Wellens whoever with Schelling, Vanhoucke and Teuns being good support riders for him and he should fight for a strong GC position. Vesely has a good leadout in Hopkins and the team hope that they together can pick up some good sprinting results
Gazelle
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Dombrowski
68
82
78
73
69
77
75
75
53
58
72
65
70
69
Sendeku
71
76
74
72
74
72
73
74
58
62
68
54
63
73
Senni
70
76
74
72
73
75
78
74
58
65
71
65
72
73
Kubis
75
64
69
74
61
75
75
65
74
74
72
73
70
71
Pavlic
69
75
74
72
72
71
73
74
63
68
69
70
70
74
Cepeda
69
74
73
71
65
71
71
68
57
60
70
64
60
64
Lastra
68
74
75
75
68
72
73
71
60
69
71
74
65
62
Garcia
68
74
73
72
67
73
73
71
55
63
72
63
63
66
Gazelle is here going all in for their agining climber Dombrowski. Even though he is ageing he is one of the strongest climbers present and should be in the fight for a top 5, or maybe even higher up the GC? A strong support team with both a good flat rider in Kubis and good climbers in Sendeku, Senni and Pavlik and support on the hills in Lastra. Some of them might be used trying to get a stage win from a break but mostly this team is set up to get Dombrowski as high on the GC as possible in what might be his laste chance in a GT
Grieg-Maersk
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Cort Nielsen
72
78
76
74
72
76
75
74
60
54
71
65
64
72
Wandahl
70
68
72
76
65
74
75
69
58
66
73
66
72
65
Blume Levy
73
60
61
62
61
74
69
68
77
73
70
69
65
62
Bagioli
70
71
74
77
64
76
72
72
60
69
76
76
66
65
Gebrezgabihier
68
70
75
79
66
74
74
72
53
67
69
77
66
64
Staune-Mittet
65
74
73
71
72
68
69
73
58
60
66
71
67
71
Svestad-Bardseng
71
72
72
71
67
73
69
72
60
66
70
70
69
67
Kamp
73
64
69
74
60
74
75
70
63
71
74
72
71
65
#I/T
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
A team mainly built to try for stage wins from breaks with Cort Nielsen, Bagioli and Gebrezgabihier as the strongesdt names. Cort Nielsen is a good climber, while the other 2 are among the stronger puncheurs. I believe the team will be pretty happy if the come out of this with anything, while they hope for a stage win
Indosat Ooredoo
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Stüssi
71
79
76
73
75
77
73
78
55
63
66
65
69
69
Zwiehoff
68
77
76
75
60
73
76
73
62
61
76
67
77
60
Jurado
75
68
69
70
70
68
72
73
68
69
70
64
66
73
Trondsen
75
65
69
72
64
72
73
83
66
76
76
66
67
65
Sagiv
77
63
68
73
60
73
71
77
66
72
72
66
71
70
Gaviria
76
63
68
72
65
74
76
80
72
83
84
68
71
71
Nur Hasan
74
60
62
64
59
74
74
78
60
79
78
73
66
61
Baska
76
55
61
67
67
70
76
80
64
76
77
70
61
73
Stüssi is the main leader and among the riders who can fight for top 5 but will most likely end up in the top 10/15 and he got a good domestique in Zwiehoff. He is however not the main event as the team has sent Gaviria here who is the best sprinter present. He also got one of the best trains with Nur Hasan, Baska and Trondsen. If Gaviria does not win 2 stages or more I will see this as a failure for Indosat as he should be the favorite on all flat stages.
Jura GIANTS
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Darbellay
69
79
75
71
76
73
75
77
64
67
65
70
67
76
Fernandes
71
75
73
70
77
78
77
76
53
62
67
60
68
77
Rohendi
70
75
75
75
70
73
75
74
55
62
73
71
70
71
Ferreyra
72
72
72
72
78
72
74
74
54
68
69
73
68
77
Jussaume
70
56
65
73
77
74
73
68
63
60
65
64
67
77
Szarka
77
62
65
67
61
72
73
76
60
78
78
64
66
72
Christen
70
63
65
66
66
67
72
66
57
73
75
65
66
74
Larsen
77
60
64
68
74
74
73
78
64
77
76
65
66
80
Jura is in trouble in the PT standings and should need some points here and they are sending an interesting squad. Darbellay is the main GC hope with good support riders like Fernandes and Rohendi. Him, together with already mentioned Fernandes, Ferreyra and Jussaume could all do well in both the TT and PRL stage aswell. In addition they got strong sprinters in Szarka and Larsen. The problem however is that while they have strong riders they do not have the strongest riders, and on all terrains there are better riders present. They might be lucky and get some really good results, but they might also end up with nothing
King Power
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
McNulty
72
82
78
74
77
75
77
77
61
64
68
71
67
75
Phodingam
68
77
76
74
61
69
71
72
60
64
73
76
70
61
Gloag
71
76
75
74
61
73
74
73
55
65
73
65
70
62
Hoang
70
71
72
72
65
71
73
72
57
69
72
72
68
67
Ganna
76
69
71
73
80
74
81
69
66
69
73
74
74
82
Contreras
72
65
67
68
64
73
75
77
59
78
80
73
68
74
Salzmann
73
63
67
71
64
77
76
71
77
67
71
70
69
64
Leung
73
57
61
64
78
65
77
69
50
69
71
66
63
82
McNulty, Ganna and Contrereas are the main headlines for King Power. Contreras is a good sprinter that they hope will use his accelleration to get good results as he will have no support. Ganna is here for stage 1 and 11 and should apart from the play a support role with his flat racing. McNulty is one of the better climbers and should fight for a podium spot for this to be a good race for King Power, he has support in Phodingam and Gloag (who should also fight for U25). In general a team that has many opportunities this year while still having a team to focus on the GC
Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo Pro Cycling Team
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Van Gils
69
78
77
76
61
71
75
75
60
68
76
72
69
61
Van Poucke
68
77
77
77
64
69
72
69
60
67
75
76
67
66
Van Den Bossche
73
67
69
71
64
67
72
71
73
65
70
73
70
62
Calzoni
64
75
74
73
64
65
71
75
62
60
66
56
63
71
Verwilst
76
65
66
67
66
70
72
66
73
65
66
75
64
66
Weemaes
75
60
61
62
77
75
72
69
55
74
73
67
64
77
Biermans
77
55
58
61
64
71
74
65
71
66
67
77
69
66
Bonifazio
79
50
58
66
55
68
75
71
56
80
80
58
72
70
While Weemaes is a strong TT rider he is not among the strongest on stage 11 or 1, still could end up with a good placement. Bonifazio however is among the best sprinters in the race and I believe he really wants to win on his home soild, but could his recovery give him trouble? Also the lack of leadout could be a problem. Van Gils and Van Pucke are good hybrid climbers/puncheurs who can with a good daily form, or by joining the right attack get some good results. A team setup that very well can end up with several stage wins or none. Thought I think they can rightly be dissapointed if they dosen't get one.
Los Pollos Hermanos
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Aular
68
81
77
72
70
76
75
77
52
63
69
67
71
70
Carcueva
69
77
77
76
64
72
72
73
60
64
73
75
69
65
Osorio
69
77
75
72
72
73
72
74
55
56
68
62
64
68
Ayuso
68
75
73
71
73
75
72
73
62
62
70
67
68
71
Ruiz
79
68
68
68
64
73
71
68
66
73
75
67
71
66
Ulloa
72
66
68
70
63
73
72
71
77
68
68
68
64
64
Halvorsen
76
58
62
65
63
74
71
80
70
81
80
70
61
68
Fisher-Black
65
65
66
66
66
68
73
65
60
60
72
70
67
76
Another team with a GC and Sprinter option. Halvorsen is a strong sprinter who should be one of the main competitors for Gaviria in this years Giro. Strong flat, strong sprint and good recovery, no support to talk about though. Aular is the big GC hope, a strong climber who the team will need to help on the hilly stages. They do have a strong team to help him however with Carvueva, Osorio and the bit talent Ayuso. A succsessfull Giro is needed for LPH who finds themself far down on the standings, could Aular and Halvorsen give them that?
Polar
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Bernal
71
82
78
74
81
80
80
82
64
67
69
65
69
76
Eyob
68
76
76
76
66
74
69
73
55
62
66
72
73
66
Zambanini
67
75
75
75
59
74
70
72
56
63
74
70
69
66
Barthe
73
73
75
76
57
73
71
71
69
68
76
79
69
62
Oldani
71
73
73
73
64
70
75
72
63
68
75
71
67
67
Lau
68
71
73
74
64
73
70
69
63
66
72
73
66
64
Christensen
78
67
69
70
64
76
74
76
52
68
65
71
76
64
Sweeny
78
65
68
71
71
67
76
72
67
69
71
74
66
70
Polar is all about Bernal, with some rolours into it for the flat stages. Bernal is one of the biggest favorites here and he should use stage 11 to get some time on his competition. Then he should try to survive the hilly stages and hope to have good legs in the mountains. If that happens he might well win this. While Christensen and Sweeny might hope to get their own chances on some flat stages the team is pretty much here to support Bernal and Eyob and Zambanini (who might also have a chance for U25) are the most important helpers in the mountains.
Rabobank
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Champoussin
68
79
79
79
61
76
76
77
57
59
76
73
74
62
Kooij
75
63
65
67
68
75
73
76
65
78
79
64
67
76
Tolhoek
70
75
75
75
64
71
72
72
60
58
69
76
70
64
Dima
68
75
73
70
74
72
72
73
59
63
62
71
62
74
Van den Broek
70
74
74
73
65
72
72
72
60
58
67
73
69
65
Goldstein
75
66
66
66
77
72
75
72
63
66
67
63
68
75
Kielich
71
60
63
66
58
67
71
68
66
71
75
63
69
62
Van den Berg
77
57
61
64
58
77
77
73
77
71
70
75
71
64
The current PT leaders are here with an interesting team. Kooij is a strong sprinter, but not among the very best. Still his stat combo could very well make him surprise. Champoussin is a strong climber, but most important for him he is the best puncheur of the good climbers. There are many hilly stages, could he use that to get higher than expected in the GC? Dima and Tolhoek are his most important domestiques while Goldstein will trt to do something on stage 11. We should also look out for Ven den Berg who might try something from a break
Sony - Force India
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Roson
67
78
77
76
61
67
70
77
53
54
74
73
66
58
Van Dijke
69
73
76
78
71
74
75
72
67
71
74
76
72
72
Ulysbayev
70
76
74
72
72
72
71
72
60
62
65
68
64
71
Elissonde
63
75
73
70
60
71
72
74
63
52
61
58
69
60
Obando
64
74
73
72
69
67
70
73
51
60
64
77
65
70
Hofstetter
74
62
66
70
64
71
71
75
73
77
78
71
68
66
Agirrebeitia
67
73
70
66
73
69
72
67
60
55
67
61
73
69
Holm Jorgensen
72
55
57
59
71
68
64
72
53
58
64
64
65
73
Another team who looks focused on stage wins with Roson as a good climber, Van Dijke as a good puncheur and Hofstetter as an ok sprinter. I believe this is a balanced squad who will have riders fighting for many stages, but who might end up with both a lot and very little. Keep an extra eye on Van Dijke in the U25 competition, he is not the strongest sprinter there, but as a good puncheur and an ok TTer he might surprise
Specialized
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Barguil
68
79
76
73
68
74
74
77
53
62
72
64
74
68
Battistella
71
75
75
75
66
71
77
72
63
67
71
74
68
72
Milan
77
58
61
63
77
72
80
69
63
74
73
66
64
79
Baroncini
75
65
70
75
74
74
78
72
63
67
72
75
70
72
Pickrell
73
65
68
70
65
69
74
69
72
63
67
69
69
64
Kench
71
63
64
65
68
70
73
67
68
67
71
75
74
68
Van Poppel
72
60
62
64
67
74
71
78
64
81
78
56
69
72
La Grenade
70
57
59
61
59
71
70
60
72
68
63
59
72
61
The 2 old men Barguil and Van Poppel leads an interesting squad from Specialized. Van Poppel is a good sprinter, but he lacks just that bit of flat and acc to be among the best, still could do well here this year if he finds his form. Barguil has seen better days, but is till a good climber, maybe he could go for a KoM or try to fight for a top 10? Battistella is a good domestique who could potentially try something in the mountains or hilly stages while Milan is a good TT/prl rider who potentially can get a very good result on stage 1 and 11.
Edited by Heine on 11-12-2025 13:17
Kanter leads a squad with a good leadout and several riders who I believe plan to attack in the mountains. Steimle and Gross gives Kanter one of the best leadouts here and makes me believe he is the main competitor for Gaviria in the flat stages. Zimmerann, Madouas, Schinnagel and Egger would've been an awesome support team if they had a main leader, but they don't... The plan I believe they have is to join every single break in the non-flat stages and hope that some stick. If they do they will be dangerous.
Team UBS
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Kudus
69
85
82
78
72
79
77
79
53
64
70
70
67
72
Schir
67
77
75
72
72
73
72
74
50
59
65
69
68
72
Balmer
68
76
75
73
74
74
75
70
63
61
69
72
75
69
Voisard
66
75
74
72
62
69
70
75
60
61
67
73
69
64
Stöckli
65
77
77
76
61
71
70
74
61
59
71
71
71
59
Brun
68
72
74
76
60
73
71
72
59
63
74
72
62
59
Goncalves
69
73
74
75
56
71
70
67
56
68
74
62
66
62
Müller
70
67
74
80
63
76
71
70
68
66
73
75
63
63
Here he comes, the main favorite, Merhawi Kudus! Team UBS is here for one thing, get him to win! A very strong support squad with Schi, Balmer, Müller, Voisard, Goncalves, Brun and Stöckli who should be delievering Kudus into the best positions possible to destroy the other GC riders. Kudus is the big favorite, and anything other than Maglia Rosa should be seen as a failure! Balmer is also one of the strongest U25 riders, could he be allowed to ride his own chances there?
Tinkoff Team - La Datcha
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Vingegaard
67
78
74
70
71
76
77
77
60
61
66
68
69
71
Mamykin
66
77
75
72
67
80
76
85
52
62
67
66
69
65
Arslanov
68
76
74
71
73
76
76
76
53
61
66
62
68
74
Novikov
67
76
74
71
69
72
73
72
60
61
70
70
65
68
Rybalkin
65
75
74
73
71
78
77
81
65
65
69
67
73
72
Foliforov
72
74
73
71
69
77
75
74
50
60
57
66
72
69
Trakhov
68
69
74
79
65
78
74
69
55
69
75
70
69
65
Banaszek
74
61
63
65
63
71
73
76
59
79
81
65
70
73
Tinkoff sends one sprinter, one puncheur and a team of climbers. Banaszek is the sprinter who will ride alone, then try to find a wheel and pick up a stage. Can he do it? Yes he can, but he will have to do it all by himself. Trakhov is a good puncheur who together with the climbing squad should try to get into different breaks and see what sticks. Mainly a team here to try to grab stages, something they might just do
Xero Racing
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Olivier
71
80
78
75
68
75
79
75
58
63
70
69
70
68
Fouche
66
78
77
75
69
72
73
77
62
61
75
75
65
69
Dzhus
65
76
73
70
64
74
74
68
55
58
75
70
63
64
Paulus
69
74
76
77
64
71
68
73
56
62
71
73
67
64
Tesfaye Heyi
75
70
72
73
67
74
76
65
55
68
73
78
66
72
Frankovic
74
62
67
71
64
71
78
70
67
74
76
66
71
66
Houle
74
62
67
71
65
70
65
70
61
75
72
66
65
65
De Kleijn
70
61
68
75
60
71
71
76
66
74
75
64
64
67
Olivier is the big name on Xero here in the Giro and getting him as high as possible in the GC is the focus. Fouche and Dzhus are strong helpers in the mountain while Pauluas and De Kleijn are strong helpers in the hills. Tesfaye Heyi is also a strong puncheur who can tow the field (or Olivier) on flat stages. Also be carefull if Houle joins breaks, with his hill and sprint he could become very dangerous at the end of stages.
Thank you for such a great preview on such short notice, Heine! Halvorsen and Aular is an okay team here and should allowed us to be in contention on different terrains and several stages, definitely if guys like Carcueva, Ruiz etc. get some attacking freedom as well. Halvorsen had a very bad Vuelta last season but somehow had one great stage and won it, let's see if he can repeat that stage win this time. We'll never forget how the mighty Wilco Kelderman delivered us our first GT stage win in the Giro 3 years ago, so hopefully we can cheer here again this season as well.
Very curious what we can do here. Feels like we dont have a lineup spot wasted and everyone has a role to play. Foss as GC leader and Ovsya as sprint leader are obvious, then Krasts as U25 chaser (in a favorable u25 field!) and then im hoping to be active in breaks too. Lots of hopes but absolutely no guarentees, hopefully some of them deliver nicely.
My overwhelming feeling is Bernal is the biggest danger to a Kudos win with Pogacar to finish off the podium kudos could really do a lot of damage on some of those longer MO stages
Wow the sprinters field here is absolutely crazy. I though having Zingle here would be guaranteeing a couple of solid stage results, but I should be happy if he somewhat sprints to top 10s…
Trying to set up Kinoshita a bit here is going to be fun, and then a solid group of climbers to help Giannoutsos. Hoping for some breakaway succes, and a GC top 10.
Thanks for the great write up Heine. Stacked field here. This is by far our biggest race of the season and anything less than a win for Kudus would be a failure. That being said I think Pog and Bernal are real threats, and there is a lot of uncertainty as to how the AI will play out over the course of a grand tour. My fear is the game allowing big breakaways in the last couple weeks that lets a decent climber get far enough ahead to hold on. But we'll see, should be fun either way!
Thanks for putting up the preview especially in such a small time frame!
Kooij is not going to have a good time in that sprinter's field, but this also means less competition for Aniolkowski in the Tour.
I see Champoussin more of a stage hunter rather than a GC guy, but with some lucky breakaways a good GC spot could be on the table as well. Really excited to see what he can do after the training.
Excited for our GT debut, we come here with a hope for every stage outside of the long TT. Maybe even a possibility of Milan grabbing the white on stage 1, looking through the field it's hard to see who would beat him in that regard at least!
This should be a win for Kudus to make him justify his huge wage bill, but I do have a feeling that Bernal is going to be an absolute animal this Giro!
I feel sick! This certainly wasn't the best GT to pick considering how stacked the line up is here. The Goal is for a podium but I have to say Morton may well be a distant 4th or worse! Hopefully Kemboi will aid the points earnings from this race but as you say Heine, splitting the team may well hurt us greatly...
John St Ledger in Team Bunzl-Centrica and Team U25
Thanks for the great preview, Heine! As the only one who already knows how everything will unfold (and end) it's really interesting where you (and some of the others commentating) were spot on and absolutely false with your predictions, expectations, hopes and fears, but that's always the privilege of the reporter I guess.
I hope all of you can enjoy the race!
Spoiler
I decided to recklessly copy Heines Roubaix approach and so I will split the race into 21 seperate reports
Stage 1 will be up tomorrow around noon.
Thanks for the great preview, Heine! As the only one who already knows how everything will unfold (and end) it's really interesting where you (and some of the others commentating) were spot on and absolutely false with your predictions, expectations, hopes and fears, but that's always the privilege of the reporter I guess.
I hope all of you can enjoy the race!
Spoiler
I decided to recklessly copy Heines Roubaix approach and so I will split the race into 21 seperate reports
Stage 1 will be up tomorrow around noon.
That is one of the most fun things about reporting! Like when Abhi said in PR thread that Owen most likely would dissapoint and I knew he would fall behind early
I petition for splitting every stage into 4! Make it a spamfest!
Btw, when I set up with flags (except for the one where I copied wrongly...) it was awesome to see some of the teams sent here
I love Tinkoff, UBS, Puma etc even though the most awesome considering it is the Giro is Lierse. A Belgian focus but with it being Giro 2 Italians thrown in. That is just sexy. Puma would've been awesome if Madouas was Italian... And UBS with their Swiss focus and a leader (then Goncalves being thrown in just feels like a fit)
Edited by Heine on 12-12-2025 06:15
Time will tell if Wellens somehow is able to fight for a top10 or being slowly losing time on younger riders. If later he hopefully goes for some 2nd half attacks to stage hunt or KoM hunt.
Other than that both our sprinters are here, so ideally we will see a bit of stage points from them despite the sprinter field being a bit stronger than hoped.
I guess I can be content with not having Philipsen here and hopefully he can perform well in the Vuelta instead. GC wise having to against Kudus and Bernal is far from ideal. I can see McNulty being a problem also and there are plenty of 80-81 guys that can finish above Pogi due to breakaway shenanigans.
I'm pretty sure I'll regret having sent Pogi here instead of TDF or Vuelta.
Thank you for the read, Heine! Enjoyed that a lot!
For us, we're all in for Groenewegen. We really need to get it right, as he is likely to be our best bet for big points in any of the GTs. We've had mixed results with Konychev (and Kragh) in his leadout. Hoping we get the better version consistently on the flat stages here! The sprinters field is deep and stacked, so not getting the leadout right will make it very difficult to get any stage podium, I suspect.
The prologue is also obviously exciting for us, as I hope Kragh can claim the win and the first Maglia Rosa. Ganna is here, and Ganna beat him convincingly in last year's Tour. That prologue was longer, so fingers crossed Kragh can bounce back.
Olivier is a solid leader, Fouche is a perfect GT rider who hasn't acted like it very much so far in his career, Dzhus is a solid domestique, then five guys who can hopefully make stuff happen, particularly Tesfaye Herin is always good value in a GT. Please don't bore me and don't disappoint me boys!
Thanks for a great preview Heine, now looking forward to the reports! Great initiative kb to break them up into separate... what are we calling them? Stages?
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [PT] Xero Racing
Who would have thought that Andersen is beatable? Fisher-Black in 18th was nice, hopefully he can come back (to a GT in general) for more when he's fully developed Thanks kb for kicking the GT season off!
Giro d'Italia 
This certainly wasn't the best GT to pick considering how stacked the line up is here. The Goal is for a podium but I have to say Morton may well be a distant 4th or worse! Hopefully Kemboi will aid the points earnings from this race but as you say Heine, splitting the team may well hurt us greatly...
Enjoyed that a lot!
Thanks kb for kicking the GT season off!
