Race organizer RCS Sport had designed an interesting route for stage 15 of Giro d’Italia 2025. The stage would take the riders 219 kilometers into mountainous terrain on a route from Fiume Veneto to Asiago. The stage would include one Category 4 climb after forty kilometers, the Category 1 Monte Grappa climb mid-stage, as well as the Category 2 Dori climb, which would lead the riders onto a plateau in the final part of the stage.

Pello Bilbao (Bharain-Victorious), Romain Bardet (Team Picnic-PostNL), Mikkel Honore (EF Education-EasyPost), and Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) were the favorites to win stage 25 from a long breakaway.

Lidl-Trek’s general classification captain Giulio Ciccone had been forced to abandon this year’s Giro due to a serious thigh injury sustained in the same crash which caused significant time losses for Primoz Roglic, Egan Bernal, and Juan Ayuso in yesterday’s stage 14.

Stage 15 got off to a fast start and Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Patrick Konrad (Lidl-Trek) were two of the first riders to eagerly launch a breakaway attempt after the riders had left the start town of Fiume Veneto, where great festivities had been arranged to celebrate and honor the arrival of the Giro.

No riders had managed to form a viable breakaway group after ten kilometers of racing, but many were still trying, and the peloton was stretched out on the wide highways.

Patrick Konrad, Lorenzo Milesi (Movistar Team), Michael Hepburn (Jayco-Alula), and Mattia Bais (Team Polti-VisitMalta) were trying their luck when 180 kilometers remained and had fought their way to an advantage of twenty seconds at this point. The riders were racing through areas known for their prosecco production. As if prosecco wasn’t enough, the riders were riding towards Monte Grappa, at the foot of which the grappa spirits are produced in and around Bassano del Grappa.

The riders were climbing the Muro di Ca del Poggio (Category 4), where many spectators were happily celebrating the arrival of the riders and had arranged great festivities along the route. The four frontmen were reeled in by the peloton, where many riders were still eagerly attempting to join a viable breakaway.

Antonio Tiberi and other riders had been dropped from the first peloton group, and he was now chasing with his Bahrain-Victorious troops in an effort to rejoin the peloton. Tiberi was fighting for a prime position in the general classification of this year’s Giro.

A breakaway group featuring approximately thirty riders established a lead over the main peloton group and had an advantage of 01:30 minutes with 145 kilometers remaining. The breakaway group featured significant riders including Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-Victorious), Daniel Martinez (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Nicolas Prodhomme (Decathlon-AG2R), Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost), David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ), Joshua Tarling (Ineos-Grenadiers), Louis Meintjes (Intermarche-Wanty), Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek), Igor Arrieta (UAE Team Emirates), and Christian Scaroni.

Antonio Tiberi and his fellow Bahrain-Victorious men managed to rejoin the main peloton after a long and hard chase effort.

Not only were riders in the main peloton still trying to make the leap to the breakaway group, but riders in the breakaway group were also trying to escape to gain an advantage before the mosre significant climbs of the day.

The riders were approaching the legendary Monte Grappa climb. The 25-kilometer Category 1 climb had an average gradient of 5.7 percent, and the climb could greatly influence the outcome of today’s stage. 

UAE Team Emirates were leading the main peloton up the climb. Meanwhile, Vacek had escaped from the front group together with Davide de Pretto (Jayco-Alula) and Nicola Conci. 

Nicola Conci went solo on the Monte Grappa climb and fought his way to a small gap. Vacek and de Pretto rejoined the main breakaway group. 

Conci decided to wait for the rest of the breakaway group, as it was proving too hard to fight solo against all other breakaway companions, who were chasing in joint fashion while spearheaded by riders from the Movistar team in pursuit of a stage victory. 

With sixteen kilometers of the Monte Grappa climb remaining, the breakaway had a time advantage of more than three minutes over the main peloton, where riders from UAE Team Emirates were in control.

David Gaudu, Ben Turner and other breakaway participants had found the Monte Grappa climb too difficult and had been reeled in by the chasing main peloton group. In historic times, Eddy Merckx had found Monte Grappa so difficult and exhausting he had to receive oxygen treatment when he reached the summit. Drinking a grappa would definitely not have been doctor’s orders.

Monte Grappa was not only associated with memorable historic battles on bikes, but rather also terrible battles and bloodshed during the two World Wars. Ernest Hemmingway fought in Italy during the First World War and his Farewell to Arms novel is based on his own memories from the frontlines.

Ben Turner and Ineos-Grenadiers teammates moved to the front of the main peloton when five kilometers of the Monte Grappa climb remained. They were clearly increasing the pace for team captain Egan Bernal after UAE Team Emirates had delivered a more controlled effort.

Further up the road less than thirty riders remained in the breakaway group.

Egan Bernal attacked solo from the peloton with two kilometers left of the climb and 92 kiloemters of the stage remaining. GC leader Isaac del Toro joined the Colombian rider as did Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) and Bernal’s Ineos-Grenadiers teammate Thymen Arensman. The front breakaway group was only 01:20 minutes ahead of the Bernal group one kilometer from the Monte Grappa summit.

Simon Yates, Juan Ayuso, Primoz Roglic and other GC favorites were almost twenty seconds behind the Bernal group at the summit. A long and dangerous descent now awaited the riders. As the GC favorites were on the attack, the downhill stretch would be ridden at a very fast pace.

Marco Frigo attacked from the front group and was the solo frontman in the race on the descent. The chasers from the breakaway group were thirty seconds behind him with 84 kilometers remaining. The Bernal group was 48 seconds back and featured Bernal, Carapaz, Arensman, del Toro, Derek Gee, and Filippo Fiorelli.

While Frigo remained solo in front with a twenty second advantage, the two GC favorite groups reconnected on the climb and despite the brave efforts from Bernal, Carapaz, and co, the alarms were off for Roglic, Ayuso, Tiberi, and the other GC favorites who had been caught behind on the Monte Grappa climb. 

With sixty kilometers remaining of the stage the riders were now on a flat stretch, before the Category 2 Dori climb would be reached. Bilbao, Prodhomme, Carlos Verona, Gianmarco Garofoli, Filippo Zana, Filippo Fiorelli, and Christian Scarponi were chasing Frigo.

Frigo got reeled in and riders including Romain Bardet, Bart Lemmen, and Florian Stork were also in the breakaway, which had an advantage of almost three minutes over the main peloton with 46 kilometers remaining. The riders were approaching the Dori climb (Category 2), which would be the final climb of stage 15, as a prelude before a final stretch to the finish line on a plateau with only minor bumps. 

Carlos Verona attacked from the front group as the riders reached the bottom of the Dori climb. Gianmarco Garofoli tried to bridge to Verona, but the Spanish rider was stronger. The chasers were forty seconds behind Verona when three kilometers of the climb remained. 

While Ineos-Grenadiers riders were spearheading the main peloton up the climb, Filippo Zana attacked from the breakaway group, hoping to make the leap to Garofoli and Verona before the summit.

Alexander Jefferson Cepeda moved to the front of the reduced main peloton group with two kilometers left. He was riding in support of Richard Carapaz, who attacked shortly later. Bernal, del Toro, and other GC favorites immediately responded, but Primoz Roglic was out of sight and further back. Roglic was suffering in the saddle, so Carapaz attacked again. Roglic was more than thirty seconds behind.

Carlos Verona was the first rider to reach the summit of Dori. He was followed by Garofoli and Zana sixteen seconds later.

Simon Yates attacked from the small GC favorites group shortly before the summit. Del Toro, Carapaz, and other riders immediately closed the small gap. Roglic was now more than a minute behind.

Verona fought on in brave fashion on the short descend that would have to be conquered before the riders would reach the plateau that would bring them to the finish line in the town of Asiago, which is known for its observatory and its grand memorials from the World Wars. 

Verona was still solo in front when fifteen fast kilometers remained to the finish line. The first chase group was forty seconds behind, while the first GC favorites group was 01:52 seconds back, and the Roglic group was more than three minutes behind at this point. A sad day in the saddle for Roglic after yesterday’s visit on the home soil of Slovenia.

Lidl-Trek’s Carlos Verona was fifty-three seconds ahead of the first chase group with ten kilometers left before the finish line would be reached. The Spanish rider was possibly racing to pay tribute to Lidl-Trek’s general classification favorite who had been forced to abandon the race before today’s stage 15 due to the serous thigh injuries sustained in a crash yesterday.

Four kilometers remained and Verona was still looking powerful and determined on his bike. His lead was 38 seconds, but the chasers did not appear to have given up, so he would have to ride maximum speed all the way to the finish line.

Carlos Verona proved the strongest man on the day and crossed the finish line in solo fashion as winner of stage 15 of Giro d’Italia 2025. The Lidl-Trek rider won the stage in 05:15:41 and dedicated his stage victory to teammate Giulio Ciccone.

Florian Stork (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) was the second rider to reach the finish line. The German rider was 22 seconds slower than the Spanish stage winner. Christian Scaroni completed the stage podium, while Romain Bardet finished fourth and Nicolas Prodhomme fifth.

The first general classification favorites group reached the stage finish 29 seconds after the stage winner and included Damiano Caruso, Richard Carapaz, Simon Yates, Isaac del Toro, Egan Bernal, Thymen Arensman, Antonio Tiberi, Juan Ayuso, and Adam Yates.

Primoz Roglic crossed the finish line with a significant time deficit to the other general classification favorites while receiving loyal support from his Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe teammates. Roglic was 01:59 minutes behind Verona.

Isaac del Toro is still leading the general classification of this year’s Giro following stage 15. Simon Yates is second in the GC, 01:20 minutes behind del Toro. Juan Ayuso is in third place, 01:26 minutes back, while Richard Carapaz is fourth, 02:07 behind the GC leader. Antonio Tiberi is seventh, 03:02 minutes back, Egan Bernal advanced to eighth position, 03:38 back, Thymen Arensman is ninth, while Primoz Roglic is now ninth, 03:53 minutes behind the GC leader.

Monday will be the third rest day of this year’s Giro d’Italia.

The 2025 Giro d’Italia will continue Tuesday with stage 16 – a very challenging 203-kilometer mountain stage that will feature three category 1 climbs and one category 2 climb on a route from Piazzola sul Brenta to San Valentino Brentonico. Look for the general classification favorites to impress on the mountain roads of Italy.

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