DISCUSSION Giro d'Italia Stage 21 | Has Visma - Lease a Bike been the best team at the Giro? Olav Kooij's dominance, Giro's recap and more...
Cycling
The Giro d’Italia 2025 has come to an end, with a flat stage around Rome with no GC implications. It was a day to celebrate and enjoy, with all riders smiling and having a good time.
After receiving the visit of the Pope before the start, riders took his time and rode slowly during the first half of the stage. Once the circuit commenced, attacks began to unfold, with a 6-rider group going clear.
The peloton never allowed them to have more than a 30-second gap, catching them with 6km to go. Then, the anticipated sprint happened and Olav Kooij got a commanding win, beating Kaden Groves and Matteo Moschetti. A perfect ending of the Giro for Visma, winning the stage and the GC.
Once the stage finished, we asked some of our writers to share their thoughts and main takeaways about what happened today.
Ivan Silva (CiclismoAtual)
Not much to be said. the usual last day parade, the break that never really threatened the race, and the sprint finale with Olav Kooij once again proving he's the fastest on pure flat sprints.
Visma definitely finished the Giro on an high.
Víctor LF (CiclismoAlDía)
I don't have much to say about this last day of Giro d'Italia 2025. Classic Grand Tour final stage, with the peloton taking the protocol photos, the jerseys being seen at the start and the champion's team toasting with champagne.
The Visma - Lease a Bike, which suffered the terrible news of the death of Robert Gesink's wife, had a dream weekend in sporting terms. Olav Kooij took his second stage win and proved that he was the best pure sprinter of this Giro.
Carlos Silva (CiclismoAtual)
As for the final stage of the Giro, it was an unqualified victory for Olav. Great work by Visma in preparing the sprint for their man. Perfect.
As an overview of the whole Giro, let's start with the positive stuff:
Victories for Mads Pedersen, what a monster Alfonso Eulalio, the king of the Mortirolo. Finestre's day was fantastic, with Simon Yates and Wout van Aert standing out.
An Italian wearing the pink jersey after a few years. It was for one stage, but the symbolism remains. Carapaz, an attacking cyclist, would have liked to have seen him in pink in Rome.
About the negative things: The Tudor team, and I wonder if Pidcock was in Italy. Has anyone seen him? Juan Ayuso, it's either the way he wants it... or I'm leaving the competition. The bee didn't convince me, I've seen better theatre and cyclists more committed to the team and their colleagues.
He's an example of a bad professional. The UAE's tactics don't convince anyone. Why has the UCI increased the number of teams in the Grand Tours? Well, at least the peloton has become more colourful. The lack of public on the roads. Mikel Landa's fall.
To summarise: It was the best edition of the Giro d'Italia in years. Without the big names present, it was an open race, hotly contested and suspenseful right to the end. The high mountain stage after the rest day was an ode to cycling.
Rúben Silva (CyclingUpToDate)
There isn't usually much to say regarding the final day of the Grand Tour. In the next few days we'll discuss some of the race's hot topics, but nevertheless we got an exciting sprint to end the race. Josef Cerny's effort was impressive and he legitimately put tension in the peloton.
Visma rocked the final leadout of the race and delivered Olav Kooij to a brilliant victory. Two stages and two GC wins in one day is impressive for Visma, who have been able to recover their place at the top of the cycling world in an unexpected way.
Ondřej Zhasil (CyclingUpToDate)
To summarize the race as a whole, I think a comparison to the Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot is a nice parallel. For three weeks, marred by crashed and other non-cycling chaos, we have been waiting for a spectacular fireworks on Colle delle Finestre, as was the final stage (I don't count Rome parade) pictured in media.
And for me, it didn't deliver. We had a one-hour mickey mouse game between Carapaz and Del Toro while Simon Yates rode towards a destined victory.
For three weeks, we watched a shrinking group of favourites arrive side by side with occasional promotional attacks of Bernal and Carapaz. Other than that, the only drama was brought about by numerous crashes, abandons, and UAE leadership drama.
On that note, I think the whole team needs to gather at one table and discuss this race. Except the excellent and loyal Majka, I don't remember anyone else ride the front of Del Toro for more than 5 minutes across the whole Giro, almost as if the team didn't wish to win the race.
If that is indeed the case, I can completely understand Del Toro's frustration that lead to him completely forfeiting pink in the valley after Finestre.
Sprint stages were a battle for survival, decisive time trial ruined by rain and wind, breakaway stages by riders looking at each other. I can't help it but there were maybe a 2-3 exciting moments across the whole Giro and it goes as a credit to whoever put together this year's route.
We were looking forward to an exciting Giro without the supreme overlord Tadej Pogacar, but I think without him, the race was even more boring. Thankfully, he'll be at the Tour.
Félix Serna (CyclingUpToDate)
Personally, I am not a big fan of the final stage of a Gran Tour being an uncompetitive walk in the park. I always loved how the Giro resisted and avoided introducing a ceremonial stage the final day, contrary to what happens in both the Tour and La Vuelta.
But since a few years ago, they have succumbed to the temptation and this tradition seems to be here to stay. It’s a pity, even if I can understand that the opportunity to show off Rome to the international audience is too attractive to let it pass.
Olav Kooij won and proved once again he has been the strongest sprinter at this Giro. He won twice and would have had a great shot for the hat-trick hadn’t he been pushed to the barriers on stage 6.
Visma’s leadout had a shaky start to the Giro, with many doubts regarding Wout van Aert’s shape. However, they managed to clear matters up very soon and proved to be the best team when it came to setting up their sprinter.
A perfect Giro overall for the team, which should be buzzing with confidence after a difficult start to the season and Vingegaard’s abandon in Paris-Nice. After the impressive performance Simon Yates displayed, he should be a key piece to support Vingegaard at the Tour, alongside Jorgenson.
Crashes happened more often than other years, or at least that was the impression I had. It caused the abandon of many contenders such as Primoz Roglic, Juan Ayuso or Mikel Landa, besides of ruining the GC aspirations of Antonio Tiberi.
Having a more open and unpredictable race than usual was more fun on the one hand, but also more disappointing and quite anti-climatic on the other.
UAE will have lots to think about and reevaluate, their tactics have been awful the whole Giro. They always get away with that when Pogacar is running, since that man can singlehandedly hide tactic mistakes. But when he is not there, they are often exposed. Many things to fix before the Tour.
And you? What are your thoughts about everything that happened today? Leave a comment and join the discussion!
Félix SernaCycling Journalist
Félix Serna is a writer at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2025. He covers professional cycling across both the men’s and women’s calendars, with a focus on UCI rankings, race developments, and rider performance. His work includes interview-based reports, liveblogs, and tournament coverage designed to provide clear, accurate context throughout the season.
In his reporting, Félix regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical reference. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available. He holds a bachelor’s degree in International Studies.
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