14,000 metres of elevation in five days: Is this the toughest week of racing on the 2025 calendar?
Cycling
Next year’s route for the Tour of the Alps has been
announced, and the Giro d’Italia warm up race has a profile that even the likes
of Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard will raise an eyebrow at. It’s got five
days full of climbing, climbing, and more climbing, and the riders will either
be physically broken or primed and ready for the Giro by the end of the five
days.
The race is 700km long in total, and features an
eye-watering 14,000 metres of elevation gain, as the riders travel through the
Alps from San Lorenzo Dorsino to Lienz in less than a week.
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The stage race kicks off on April 21st in the
Trentino region, and the race was won by Juan Pedro Lopez of Lidl-Trek in 2024.
The most challenging day looks set to be on stage 2, when the peloton will take
on two 16 kilometre laps in Sterzing and Vipiteno, including a climb of the
Telves di Sopra which is 4km at a gradient of 7%.
The Tour of the Alps is often seen as one of the toughest
warm up races for the grand tour season, and next year looks set to be one of
the most challenging editions yet. Will the brutal elevation be enough to
attract defending Giro champion Tadej Pogacar to the start line? Or will we see
Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel taking on the Tour of the Alps, if they
are planning a Giro-Tour bid in 2025?
Fin MajorCycling Journalist
Fin Major is a UK-based writer at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2024. He is the site’s main writer for FAQs and evergreen explainers and has written around 2,000 pieces for the platform. Alongside this work, he focuses on in-depth analysis and covers the biggest races on the calendar, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, providing clear context around performance trends, tactics, and key storylines.
In his reporting, Fin uses reputable data sources such as ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available. Outside of writing, Fin is an active cyclist, which supports his practical understanding of the sport and its demands.
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