"I see no rival for Roglic in the Giro d'Italia" - Contador and Flecha ahead of first mountain battle

After each stage of the Giro d'Italia the Eurosport teammates gather at La Montonera to analyze what might happen the next day. Today we come to the first mountain stage of the Giro d'Italia 2025 with all eyes on Red Bull of Primoz Roglic and UAE of Juan Ayuso.

The riders Alberto Contador and Juan Antonio Flecha and the journalist Juan Antonio Alix commented a little on what could happen on the first day that can prove essential for the final overall classification when it comes to the fight for the pink jersey.

"UAE is very well placed and has not lost anyone like Jai Hindley. It's going to be an interesting weekend with half-mountain and with the dirt section, you're going to see some things," Alix commented.

Alberto Contador differentiated the strategies of Red Bull and UAE taking into account the charisma and consolidation of their leaders:

"They are two great teams with different strategies, regardless of whether Hindley won the Giro or Dani Martinez was second last year, Red Bull BORA thinks of Primoz Roglic, he is a man who has started very strong, a rider with guarantees who has won 5 grand tours and everyone goes for him. It's a real great team man for man, but it's a very important loss when Hindley disappears without having worked. It's problematic".

Incidentally, the two-time Giro winner believes that UAE's greatest asset to defeat Roglic is the block.

"I think UAE will work on trying to win the Giro d'Italia but playing tactically with the block they have. It's true that as the days go by some of those riders are going to lose positions, but I think they will try to take advantage of those riders they have in a short time to create problems for Red Bull BORA and maybe from today."

Flecha, stage winner in the Tour de France and multiple podium finisher in Paris-Roubaix and Tour of Flanders, assured that for him the only favorite to win the race is Primoz Roglic and that UAE will have to be very aggressive to try to stop him from doing so, especially considering the absence of Hindley:

"It is clear that the loss of Hindley is great, he was the best domestique at a tactical level and to help in the mountains. I think Roglic is the clear favorite and that UAE should move a lot. I'm skeptical about the show because I don't see Roglic as a rival in the Giro d'Italia. I see it very difficult. I hope they surprise me. That's when UAE has to reinvent itself tactically, use its cards a lot and be very offensive and more so now after the loss of Roglic's teammate. There is a lot of Giro left. UAE is going to make the race hard and see what happens. At the slightest change UAE will start to harden, harden and harden to see what happens with Red Bull and from there play their cards ".