Absence of Pogacar and Vingegaard affected Giro d'Italia route? Pundit argues "the Giro has tried to make the route attractive to a large group of riders" instead

Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel are not going to take part in the 2025 Giro d'Italia, as was the case with the 2024 Vuelta a España - with Primoz Roglic racing both, looking to take advantage of this situation to boost his palmarès. Although most of the Giro's route had been decided already in November, Dutch pundit Thijs Zonneveld argues that the known absence of the Tour de France's two top stars led the organization to try new things in the course they designed for this spring.

"The route seems very interesting for Wout van Aert. The organization itself knew that the chances of Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard at the start are slim, so the Giro has tried to make the route attractive to a large group of riders, with the hope that some of the top riders will still make the trip to Italy," Zonneveld argued in the Het Wiel podcast. 

The likes of Roglic, Richard Carapaz, Juan Ayuso, Adam Yates, Simon Yates and Mikel Landa have all confirmed their intent on racing the Corsa Rosa, and it should definitely lead to some exciting racing, also most likely without the dominating factor for one specific rider. But even outside the climbers, the race will have some big stars present such as Wout van Aert and Mads Pedersen, and potentially Mathieu van der Poel too.

"Of course, it is also a route Van der Poel might fancy, but the Tour also seems to have anticipated Van der Poel's arrival with the first week. And with the World Mountain Bike Championships in mind, the Giro-Tour combination is almost impossible, especially if he's planning another busy spring." However the former World Champion may not take part in the Tour, something he's put forward over the past few weeks.

Something also argued, but already refused by the Visma rider himself, is the possibility that Wout van Aert would try himself in a possible GC stint. "There is a chance that Van Aert will ride in pink for two weeks. Until last week, there have been almost no tough mountain stages. I think it mainly depends on the riders whether it will be a spectacular or very boring Giro. There are plenty of opportunities, but if they wait until the last week, it may remain undecided for a long time. Even though many riders will be thinking: 'This year is my chance.' But I don't think Van Aert can win the Giro."

Something else that had been discussed a lot in the Dutch media recently is the total absence of Dutch riders from the team's lineup to the Tour de France, with some even criticizing, but Zonneveld argues that for a team with ambitions as high as Visma's, they can't afford to be giving preference to riders' nationalities over their characteristics.

"As a Dutch team, it is essential to keep Dutch riders on your team, but if you want to win the Tour de France, you go with the strongest team. And the team that Visma | Lease a Bike has formed around Vingegaard is simply extremely good," he concluded.