Latest news with #Tagliacozzo
Times
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Times
Giro d'Italia: Juan Ayuso takes stage win but Primoz Roglic is back in pink
Juan Ayuso stole a march on Primoz Roglic as the contest for the Pink Jersey began in earnest on the seventh stage of the Giro d'Italia. In the first mountain finish, at the end of a draining route of 168km from Castel di Sangro to Tagliacozzo, Ayuso rode conclusively away from the leading group at the end of the final climb to assert his credentials as the primary threat to Roglic, the race favourite, who is looking for his sixth grand tour win. Although Roglic rallied to finish fourth, regaining the Maglia Rosa with a four-second advantage in the general classification, Ayuso was clearly the strongest rider in the first real battle among the climbers, with the last two kilometres averaging a challenging 9.1 per
New York Times
19-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Giro d'Italia week one: How the white roads of Tuscany exploded the race for the pink jersey
And they said this year's Giro d'Italia's route was backloaded. There has been action enough in the Grand Tour's first week to fill three, with general classification (GC) expectations shattered, enduring class on display, and even a surprise new wearer of the pink jersey. The climb into Siena on stage nine might have been steep, but this route is about to go even more uphill. What has the race taught us so far? Jacob Whitehead analyses a breathtaking week of action. You lived under a grotto for the past weeks ? Fear not, we've got you covered! 🔻 Here's the @continentaltire Ultimo Kilometro of stages 1-9 #GirodItalia — Giro d'Italia (@giroditalia) May 19, 2025 Time gaps! Time gaps galore! The favorite tag has been passed around like a communal bidon during the race's opening week. Pre-race beau Primož Roglič looked strong on the stage two time-trial, missing out on victory by less than a second, and wearing the maglia rosa (pink jersey) on two separate occasions. Advertisement But the Slovenian's positioning had appeared suspect on a couple of stages — and when he was beaten up to Tagliacozzo by UAE Team-Emirates' Juan Ayuso on stage seven, the Spaniard took over as favourite. Roglič then deliberately ceded his pink jersey after stage eight, not wanting his team to do the excess work required to defend it so early in the Giro. But will the former winner ever wear it again? Stage nine of the Giro was always going to come with risk. Following much of the popular Strade Bianche race — a sojourn through the gravelly, white roads of the Tuscan countryside — there were chances of punctures, crashes, and simply being distanced on climbs. It turned into so much more. First, Roglič and stage contender Tom Pidcock crashed and suffered punctures with 50km remaining, leaving the pair out of contention for the win — and facing a desperate battle to even regain contact with the peloton. 💥 ROGLIC AND PIDCOCK GO DOWN! 🇦🇺 Lucas Hamilton slides from the lead of the peloton, and brings down with him the two riders, who both make it back on the road, but they trail behind @INEOSGrenadiers and @TeamEmiratesUAE #GirodItalia — Giro d'Italia (@giroditalia) May 18, 2025 Then an attack from Isaac del Toro, a 21-year-old Mexican climber initially brought to the Giro as a super-domestique (a luxury helper), but whose Grand Tour-winning talent was well-known. After his performances, that potential looks like it is being paid forward. Though Del Toro was beaten in the sprint by Wout van Aert, he took just over a minute on the rest of the peloton — and now wears the pink jersey by one minute and 13 seconds. Del Toro is the first Mexican to lead a Grand Tour. This development raises intriguing questions about UAE's plans. Del Toro has been strong across the board, and is a good time trialist — he has a chance of holding this lead throughout the race. But Ayuso entered the race as his team's leader and has the larger track record — but, potentially hinting at drama to come, Ayuso's teamwork has been previously questioned. It adds another subplot to an already-fascinating race. American Brandon McNulty (eighth) and Englishman Adam Yates (ninth) round out four UAE riders in the top 10. It's undoubted strength-in-depth, but in cycling — where teams generally support one key leader — that isn't necessarily a good thing. Elsewhere, Italian Antonio Tiberi has ridden tactically to sit third, and could bring the home nation their first Giro podium since 2021. Advertisement Another former winner, Egan Bernal, looks in his best form since a life-threatening crash in 2022. He initially went with Del Toro in the stage nine break, before UAE rode hard to bring him back — the first strategic decision from Ayuso that will be questioned, given that chase diminished Del Toro's overall lead. Bernal has historically been at his best in the high mountains — his true form will be seen in the final week. Roglič lost over two minutes on stage nine, but he is not out of this race, though the lack of time-trialling kilometres does not work in his favour. He will claw some time back during Tuesday's 28km circuit, but will likely remain in arrears when the race enters the Alps and Dolomites. Roglič has a history of riding conservatively — will he have to break a career habit and launch early on one stage in his bid for pink? The plateau finish of stage 15 may be a good opportunity. 💥 La Fuga is Fuga-ing. #Giroditalia — Giro d'Italia (@giroditalia) May 18, 2025 No team has won more UCI points than Lidl-Trek this season — the United States-registered team had a consistent and competitive spring, with 11 podiums, punctuated by Mattias Skjelmose's win at Amstel Gold last month. A pantheon of riders would have noted the opportunities provided by an open first six stages — but one man, Danish sprinter Mads Pedersen, took three of them, spending five days in the maglia rosa. For much of the spring, Pedersen toiled to match the sport's two freakish talents — Tadej Pogačar and Mathieu van der Poel — but showed signs of some career-best form. Freed of that competition, the former world champion has taken his chances. Outstanding at long, gritty, uphill efforts, Pedersen has the ability to survive climbs that his rivals cannot. His team has controlled the stages he won — riding hard enough to make them reduced bunch sprints, where Pedersen has been comfortably the fastest man remaining. Advertisement His best performance arguably came in a stage he didn't win, the second stage time-trial, when he finished just 11 seconds behind winner Josh Tarling, to almost save pink. He would win it back a day later. But what has stood out is the support around Pedersen. The engine of Czech youngster Mathias Vacek has been exceptional — almost single-handedly gifting Pedersen the win on stage five by bridging several gaps before performing a perfect leadout. The 22-year-old was also fifth on the stage two time-trial in Tirana, did well to stay with the GC contenders up to Tagliacozzo, and contended for the win on stage nine. Giulio Ciccone, second in Liege-Bastogne-Liege, is going for GC in his home race — but has still devoted himself to Pedersen's cause in the early stages, before finishing among the leaders in Tagliacozzo. He sits fifth in GC after another good performance on stage nine. A quick recap for those who have not been keeping tabs. The relegation system devised by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI, the world governing body) runs over a three year period — we are two and a half years through the latest cycle, meaning struggling teams' priorities are already shifting towards points accumulation. All UCI races have a points value, and are handed out according to stage results, the general classification and a few other factors. After three years, the top 18 teams receive a WorldTour licence for the next season, guaranteeing them places in the season's biggest races. Squads who finish outside are relegated to ProTeam status. Two current ProTeams — Lotto-Dstny (11th) and Israel-Premier Tech (14th) look likely to be promoted, meaning two WorldTour teams will drop out. The battle for 17th and 18th is being fought between four teams, with Cofidis and Astana currently on the right side of the drop zone, and Picnic PostNL and Uno-X Mobility (ProTour) in 19th and 20th. Advertisement At the start of this season, Astana looked doomed, but the Kazakh team's impressively strong form through the spring knocked Dutch squad Picnic PostNL into the relegation zone. Picnic PostNL is enduring a terrible season — but then came stage four. It was the first pure sprint stage of the tour and Picnic PostNL's fast man, Casper van Uden, had featured in no pundits' breakdown of the favourites. The 23-year-old was an afterthought compared to Olav Kooij, Kaden Groves, and Pedersen — but in a chaotic finale in Lecce, the Dutch rider found himself perfectly positioned by his lead-out train. 🔻 A very fast final kilometer in Lecce, and a battle between the fastest legs of the Netherlands 🔻Un chilometro finale tiratissimo a Lecce, e poi la battaglia tra le gambe più veloci d'Olanda! ⏪ The @continentaltire Ultimo Kilometro ⤵️#GirodItalia — Giro d'Italia (@giroditalia) May 13, 2025 Wearing an unfashionable but marginally faster time-trial helmet, Van Uden held off Kooij with a long-range sprint to take a surprise win — and secure a hugely important point tally for Picnic PostNL. The gap between it and Astana is now paper-thin. 'What does that win mean to you?' Van Uden was asked after his first win at WorldTour level. '180 points!' the sprinter replied. Still, Astana has displayed the ability to be a force in this race. They will earn points for Diego Ulissi's performance in taking pink on stage eight — the first Italian to wear the maglia rosa in four years. What is a foreign start to a Grand Tour supposed to display? Competitive stages? Easy transfer to the race proper? The growth of the sport? Glorious countryside? The Giro's trip to Albania achieved all of these. After recent excursions that have felt lacking for various reasons — sub-optimal stage design (Hungary, 2022), distance from Italy (Jerusalem, 2018), and a needless trip to one of cycling's existing heartlands (Netherlands, 2016) — Albania was a vast improvement. Advertisement All three stages were competitive, with Albania's rolling terrain leaving it uncertain whether stages would be won in bunch sprints, reduced sprints, or even by puncheurs in breakaways. The design of stage three in particular — a loop around the coast south of Valona — was a beauty. Tirana's stage two time-trial was slightly lacking in pure aesthetics, but delivered a close finale — Welsh rider Tarling winning by less than a second from Roglič — and delivering gaps between GC contenders. And though there had been fears about road conditions before the race, the first issues only arose with the race back in Italy — an awkward bottleneck on stage four in Lecce. Albania more than justified its inclusion — and made a case for the Tour of Albania being upgraded from UCI Europe Tour level over the coming seasons. The opening stages of the Grand Tours invariably bring the depressing reality of crashes. This year, two figures set to play key roles in the GC suffered scary injuries. Spanish climber Mikel Landa, targeting overall victory for Soudal Quick-Step, ran wide on a fast descent into Tirana on the first stage, falling over a retaining wall and landing heavily on his back. Unable to rise to his feet himself, he was later diagnosed with a stable fracture of his T11 vertebra. Quickstep says this will 'require Mikel to remain in a stable lying position for an extended period.' A two-time former podium finisher at the Giro, Landa is a cult figure in his native Basque Country, as much for the battling nature of his failures as his occasional successes. This crash is just the latest piece of bad luck — at 35 years old, this could have been his final big chance at a Grand Tour GC. Elsewhere, Roglič's key mountain lieutenant was set to be Australia's Jai Hindley, a Giro winner in 2022 now turned super-domestique. But Hindley's legs were never tested — during slippery roads on a rainy stage six, a mass pileup left the Australian worst off. The 29-year-old suffered a concussion and his own fractured vertebra, though less serious than Landa's injury. Three other riders were also forced to abandon. 💥 Massive crash in the peloton, with many riders involved, including @RichardCarapazM, Jai Hindley, @PaulMagnier1 and others. The race is neutralized for the moment, we'll provide updates as soon as we can. #GirodItalia — Giro d'Italia (@giroditalia) May 15, 2025 The race was neutralised, with no time gaps awarded to allow all GC riders to finish safely. For Red Bull BORA Hansgrohe, however, the damage was already done. With fellow climbing domestique Dani Martínez seemingly struggling for form, Hindley's absence is a major blow to Roglič, particularly if he wants to control mountain stages in the final weeks, setting up for his own attacks. Other riders to have picked up injuries include FDJ's GC hopeful David Gaudu — the Frenchman gashed his hand so badly on stage seven that the tendon was visible, though is remaining in the race — and Ayuso, who required stitches on his knee after crashing on the gravel of stage nine. Talking of crashes, Luke Plapp is no stranger to them. The Australian champion suffered his own terrifying fall at the Paris Olympic time-trial last summer — in medal contention at the intermediate timecheck, he slid out and collided heavily with a barrier. Plapp's discomfort was visible — lying prone in a puddle, before being rushed into emergency abdominal surgery. Advertisement Back to full fitness by the Giro, Plapp then suffered another crash on a stage two time-trial he was targeting, falling mid-corner after a misjudgement. But the beauty of a Grand Tour is that it presents 21 opportunities for riders to steal the show, change their careers, and even achieve redemption. Stage eight was an opportunity for the breakaway, sandwiched between two days set to preoccupy the GC contenders, and Plapp read the race conditions perfectly. The 24-year-old came close to his first Grand Tour stage win at the Giro last year, and once again vaulted himself into contention after soloing away from the breakaway with 40km to go. Though pursued by superior climbers, Plapp used time-trialling ability to maintain his gap in the valleys, eventually winning by a minute to realise his talent on the big stage. Van Aert, meanwhile, is a rider in a very different position, an all-rounder whose palmares is amongst the most impressive in the peloton. But after an injury affected 2024, the Belgian icon had not yet reached top form again in 2025 — despite competing at the sharp end of several classics, he could not convert any of them into his customary win. The first stages of the Giro looked custom-designed for Van Aert to take pink — an uphill sprint followed by a time-trial — but he was outsprinted by Pedersen on stage one before being well off the pace against the clock 24 hours later. In fairness, Van Aert had said he was suffering from illness entering the race — but there were tactical missteps as well. The most dramatic of these came on stage six when he burst out alone — either in a far too early leadout for Kooij, or a misguided attack himself — handing the win to Kaden Groves. Tappa 9: Gubbio – Siena — Giro d'Italia (@giroditalia) May 19, 2025 But Van Aert's win at Strade Bianche showed the 30-year-old at his brilliant best. He read the race perfectly to go with the decisive attack, sticking with superior climbers for far longer than he should, before having the raw speed to overhaul them in the sprint. This was his 50th professional win. And, as the Giro d'Italia's X account posted before the rest day, 'I think this is ciclismo.' It certainly has been.
ABC News
16-05-2025
- Sport
- ABC News
Juan Ayuso pounces to win Giro d'Italia stage seven, Primož Roglič takes pink jersey
Spain's Juan Ayuso has won stage seven of the Giro d'Italia, with Slovenian Primož Roglič moving into the overall lead. The first mountain stage of the race — a 168-kilometre ride from Castel di Sangro to Tagliacozzo — came down to Ayuso having the legs to get away from his rivals in the final 400 metres. Ayuso's UAE Team-Emirates colleague Isaac del Toro was second, with Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) third, denying Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) a place on the podium. But Roglič did enough to take the leader's pink jersey from Mads Pedersen, with the Dane losing touch on the final climb. Ayuso's efforts put him second overall, 4 seconds behind Roglič, with Del Toro 5 seconds further back in third. Australia's Michael Storer (Tudor Pro) finished the stage in 10th position, 8 seconds adrift of Ayuso, to move up three places into sixth spot in the general classification. "It's my fourth Grand Tour … but I never managed to pull it (victory) off," Ayuso said. "So to finally do it today in my first Giro d'Italia is something super special that I will always remember." The stage was seen as the first real test for the general classification. Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) had been expected to relinquish his hold on the pink jersey, with the race having favoured the sprinters in the earlier stages. There was no easing into the stage, with the riders climbing from the start, and tackling another two classified climbs before the steep ascent to the finish. "I knew that I could do only one attack and not mess around with two or three on this final which was very explosive," Ayuso said. "When I saw my distance, I went full gas. It was important today to not only get the win but also try and recover the time I lost in the time trial." Reuters
The Guardian
16-05-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Giro d'Italia: Ayuso pounces for first Grand Tour stage as Roglic takes pink
Primoz Roglic pulled on the pink jersey after stage seven of the Giro d'Italia but Juan Ayuso underlined his credentials as his main challenger by snatching victory in Tagliacozzo. Ayuso (UAE-Team Emirates) had the power to break clear from a select group of favourites in the final few hundred metres of the 12km climb to the finish. His teammate, Mexican rider Isaac Del Toro, came second. The 2021 Giro winner, Egan Bernal (Ineos), took a hugely encouraging third place after an attacking ride three years on from a career-threatening crash. Roglic was initially missing when Ayuso made his move but recovered to cross the line fourth on the stage, enough to take pink by four seconds from the Spaniard at the end of the first major general classification test – with Mads Pedersen surrendering the lead as expected. The 22-year-old Briton Max Poole (Picnic-PostNL) was ninth on the stage to move up to fifth overall, 30 seconds down, while Simon Yates sits ninth at 39 seconds. His brother Adam, carrying injuries from a crash on Thursday, lost a handful of seconds but remains within a minute of pink, while Tom Pidcock lost ground near the finish and is now 70 seconds from Roglic overall. Another British rider, Paul Double, was part of a seven-strong breakaway on the 168km stage from Castel di Sangro. Double was the virtual leader on the road for much of the day as the group built a lead of more than three minutes, but they were reeled in before the steepest part of the final climb.
BBC News
16-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Ayuso wins Giro stage as Roglic claims pink jersey
Juan Ayuso won the seventh stage of the Giro d'Italia on Friday as Primoz Roglic moved top of the overall Team Emirates-XRG rider Ayuso powered away from the group of general classification contenders over the top of the final climb to win his first Grand Tour stage by four seconds. The 22-year-old Spaniard's team-mate Isaac del Toro of Mexico was four seconds behind him in second, with Colombian Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) denying Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe's Roglic the final place on the 2023 Giro champion Roglic took over the overall leader's pink jersey from Mads Pedersen, with the Danish classics rider losing touch as expected on the final Britain's Max Poole of Picnic PostNL was ninth on Friday, with the 22-year-old moving up to fifth 168km stage from Castel di Sangro to Tagliacozzo was the first mountain stage of the 2025 edition and saw the contenders for the general classification come to the fore.
