"It's the right time": Antonio Tiberi opts for a change of pace and aims for the Tour following a 2025 Giro heartbreak

Antonio Tiberi looks back at two years that could be very well described as "day and night", such a polar difference was between his 2024 and 2025 campaigns. While in 2024, the young Italian finished 5th overall at Giro d'Italia in his debut at the home Grand Tour, 2025 was a massive letdown as a crash in second week left the Bahrain - Victorious leader unable to compete with the very best despite a strong start to the race saw Tiberi sit third overall at the time.

During a media day of the team, the Italian returned to the vastly different feelings his first two Giro participations left in him: "If you compare, for example, the 2024 Giro d'Italia to this year, 2025, they are two completely different races for me," Tiberi tells Cyclism'Actu.

He continues: "One was truly the best period of my life. And this year, I can say that before the crash, everything was going well. I was there, in third place. That was where we wanted to be, and everything was going incredibly well."

Thanks to a heavy rain, the fourteenth stage in Novo Gorica quickly turned into a ruthless eliminator of GC contenders, and Tiberi was not spared: "Then, after the crash, my body started to suffer a lot. I tried to keep going, to push, despite the pain. But on the Mortirolo stage (stage 17), my body told me: OK, that's the maximum I can do. Tthat's just how it is in cycling. But I've certainly learned a lot from this experience as well. And it also gives me a lot of motivation for the new season."

Despite his unfinished business at Corsa Rosa, Tiberi has no plans of coming back to his home Grand Tour for the time being. This year, he'll focus on weekly stage races instead. And then there's his big debut at the Tour of France after four participations at Vuelta and two at the Giro.

"I think it's good to have new goals, to try and achieve something different," Tiberi explains the decision. "It gives you a bit more motivation, something different. I think it's good. It's good for me to go to the Tour de France for the first time. I think it's the right time."

But going to Tour, Tiberi can't expect to be given a full leadership without any credentials to back up his bid. And it is known already that the 22-year-old talent Lenny Martinez would also return to his home Grand Tour next year, potentially looking at an opportunity to play his own GC card. However Tiberi appears to be content with any role he'll be entrusted with:

"For me, it will certainly be a first experience. I want to go there without any great ambitions, just to enjoy my first Tour de France, to learn as much as possible, whatever I can learn from this Tour."

Thus, the question of leadership remains to be decided depending on how 2026 plays out: "I'm not sure at the moment. The level is very high. I want to arrive there in top form. And once I'm there, if I see that I might be able to go for the overall, then I'll continue. I'll try to go for the overall every day. Otherwise, aiming for specific stages is also a good option," he concludes.