Giulio Ciccone’s 2025 season over? Italian in last-minute withdrawal from Giro dell’Emilia with Il Lombardia in serious doubt
Cycling
Giulio Ciccone’s stop-start 2025 campaign looks to have hit another unwelcome twist, with Lidl-Trek confirming on Saturday morning that the Italian will not start the Giro dell’Emilia due to illness. The announcement comes just days after his return from the UCI Road World Championships in Kigali, where he represented Italy in the elite men’s road race.
“Unfortunately, Giulio Ciccone will not be at the start line of the first Italian one-day races, including today’s Giro dell’Emilia, due to illness upon his return home from the World Championships,” Lidl–Trek wrote on social media. “No decision yet on whether he will still race Il Lombardia.”
A season of highs and frustrations
The news marks a frustrating end to what has been a turbulent year for Ciccone. His 2025 season has oscillated between promising flashes of brilliance and persistent setbacks.
Back in April, he opened his account in style with victory on Stage 1 of the Tour of the Alps, showing signs that he had rediscovered his sharp climbing form after a disrupted 2024. But that momentum was cruelly halted in May at the Giro d’Italia, where a crash and subsequent quadriceps injury forced him to abandon his home Grand Tour midway through the race.
After a lengthy recovery, Ciccone returned to action over the summer and looked back to his best. He won the Clásica San Sebastián in commanding fashion, attacking solo on the Murgil-Tontorra to hold off a charging group including Jan Christen and Isaac Del Toro. A few weeks later, he claimed another victory atop Lagunas de Neila at the Vuelta a Burgos, before heading to the Vuelta a España with ambitions of a top-ten finish.
That too was derailed, however, by an untimely infection that forced him to drop out of general classification contention midway through the Spanish Grand Tour — despite having earlier finished second to Jonas Vingegaard on the summit finish at Limone Piemonte.
Ciccone in action at the recent World Championships
A season that promised more
Ciccone’s latest illness now threatens to bring down the curtain on a year that, while studded with standout moments, never quite allowed him to string together sustained form. The uncertainty over his participation in next weekend’s Il Lombardia — the race he has long called his “home Monument” — will be a bitter pill to swallow for both rider and fans.
Should he miss the ‘Race of the Falling Leaves’, Ciccone will close 2025 with just 25 race days since the Giro, albeit with two prestigious wins that underline his enduring class when fit.
For a rider whose season began with such promise and who had seemingly turned a corner after the Giro setback, the timing of this illness could hardly be crueller. Whether he lines up in Como next weekend or not, 2025 will go down as a year of resilience, frustration, and glimpses of the old Giulio Ciccone brilliance that Italian cycling still hopes to see fully unleashed once more.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- many people advise him to grow slowly and rather do giro and/or vuelta instead of tdf. but i can totally understand that he is not satisfied with taking over once pogi declines, but instead beat him in his prime. so if he goes for tdf again, i‘m all for it. let‘s hope that pogi recovers soon!Ketterechts07-11-2026
- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- How is radio going to help when someone went over a cliff or bridge or off the roadside into a forest unnoticed and is laying there unconscious?Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- Yeah man...PogiSloFans07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I'm very glad he got the big late Quickstep Vuelta win and I hope he has a few left for Euskaltel-Euskadi.flyer07-11-2026
- My memories of Ivan Basso aren't good but I liked his sister Elisa ok.flyer07-11-2026
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Unfortunately @giuliocicco1 will not be at the start line of the first Italian one-day races including today’s #GirodellEmilia due to illness upon his return home from the World Championships. No decision yet on whether he will still race Il Lombardia 🤞🙏
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