The 108th edition of one of the most prestigious cycling tours, part of the Grand Tour - the one of Italy, better known as the Giro d'Italia, will start today. The race will traditionally be held over three weeks and ends on June 1, and it looks to be infinitely intriguing given the absence of last year's champion Tadej Pogačar.

The three-time Tour de France winner from Slovenia dominated the competition in 2024, when he won six stages in his Giro debut to ultimately triumph with the largest margin in the general classification - a full 9:56 seconds, since 1965. However, the 26-year-old Pogačar decided earlier this year not to defend his title. This year’s Giro d’Italia will also be without Jonas Vingegaard, a two-time Tour de France champion, setting the stage for a very open Giro in 2025.

The race begins on Friday with a start in Durres, Albania. The first three stages will be on Albanian soil, with the cyclists also passing through the capital Tirana. On May 13 – the day after the first of three rest days for the riders (May 12, 19 and 26), the Giro will move to Italy with a stage from Alberobello to Lecce. A total of 21 stages are planned – just over 3,410 km, with two time trials and three stages that are longer than 200 km. This year, 23 teams have registered for the Giro d’Italia.

In the absence of Pogačar and Vingegaard, who are some of the strongest competitors in recent years, the intrigue about who will become champion is present and arouses great interest. Interestingly, the last time the two did not participate in the same Grand Tour was in 2024, when Primož Roglic won La Vuelta for the fourth time. The 35-year-old Slovenian won the Giro in 2023 and now, given the absence of his compatriot Pogačar and the Dane Vingegaard, he can certainly be considered a main candidate for another success in the Giro d'Italia.

Roglic's team - Bora-Hansgrohe, has more trump cards in its lineup for the Giro. Last year's runner-up Daniel Martinez from Colombia is one of them, and no one should forget about the winner from 2022 - Australian Jai Hindley. Without a doubt, among the names that deserve attention are other former champions in the form of Nairo Quintana (2014), Richard Carapaz (2019) and Egan Bernal (2021).

The three-week odyssey for cyclists will end with a final stage on Monday, June 1 from the Vatican Gardens to the Italian capital Rome, with a length of 141 km. | BGNES