PREVIEW | Giro d'Italia 2025 stage 7 - Primoz Roglic the man to beat in first mountain stage of the race with 10% summit finish

Stage 7 of the Giro d'Italia will be the first mountain stage of the race, and one that has been highly anticipated. The riders will have a day packed with climbs, but it will be on the final climb to Tagliacozzo that we will see some action. Will Primoz Roglic be able to match all other climbers in the race?

Stage 7 will feature the first summit finish of the race. In the Appeninnes, the riders take off and immediately start climbing. It's not a brutal day, but it will be important to test the form of the pink jersey contenders. 7.8 kilometers at 5.8% right from the start means there should be a strong breakaway being formed.

A traditional rolling day in this area of the country, with very few flat roads. With 98 kilometers to go there is a climb which is 4.6 kilometers long at 9.2% and that is a serious ascent, which will be felt later on. Unlikely that there will be a very strong pace but the peloton will lose riders. Quickly after there is are 14 kilometers of climbing at around 5% (with a small descent in the middle) and only then can the riders relax a little before preparing for the final ascent where the GC riders will go to the limit.

The riders will be saving their legs until the final ascent to Tagliacozzo which will be just over 12 kilometers long at 5.5%. However, the final 2 kilometers average 10% and will be quite difficult. If riders do not have their best form they risk losing meaningful time and entering the key days already with a lot of pressure on their shoulders.

A grey and colder day in the Appeninnes, and one where the wind will blow with some strength from the east. However this is a good thing for those expecting or wanting to make some spectacle, as overall it means there will be a tailwind throughout the stage. In the final climb, most of it will have some crosswinds, but the final steep kilometers will also have a tailwind.

Primoz Roglic - BORA do not find themselves in the perfect position, as Daniel Martínez is struggling with form and Jai Hindley is now out of the race. Now, this won't make an effect this week I would say. And this stage is included, it won't be hard to control for BORA (unless there is a wildly strong breakaway, but that's unlikely). BORA did make it clear they don't want pink too early, so they have invited many riders to attack and form a strong breakaway. But with their direct rivals, there won't be terrain to put the team under pressure. In normal conditions, they can comfortably take the Slovenian to the final 2 kilometers and there he can defend himself - on this climb I would even say he can attack.

UAE - UAE have to attack the race before several of their climbers lose time. If they want to actually put direct pressure on Roglic or others with their depth, they have a good opportunity to do so here. Brandon McNulty and Isaac del Toro should be used to try and form a strong breakaway early in the day, and use them whilst they are still realistic GC contenders. Juan Ayuso crashed on stage 1, and hasn't looked to sharp thus far this race. In the climb it won't be too tactical, but I don't think he will be attacking left and right as he did in Catalunya. Adam Yates may make the difference in other stages, not this one likely, but the team won't burn him by any means as he can come in very valuable later on.

The rest of the GC field, and dare I say this might sound boring, but will likely just follow wheels and then do the best they can in those final 2 kilometers. I could see Michael Storer, Giulio Ciccone or even Tom Pidcock putting on great rides to finish or even gain time on the pink jersey favourites, however you can't argue that they have teams to actually explode the peloton or devastate BORA and UAE.

It will also be a day of testing out the legs, see where they stand in the GC fight... Richard Carapaz comes in right after a crash and his form will be a bit of an unknown, whilst riders such as Derek Gee, Thymen Arensman and David Gaudu are also big unknowns heading into the first mountain day.

Antonio Tiberi, Damiano Caruso, Egan Bernal, Louis Meintjes, Einer Rubio, Chris Harper, Romain Bardet, Max Poole, Davide Piganzoli and Simon Yates are all also riders looking to perform in the GC and will likely be high up there in the finale.

Breakaway - What if the win does go to the front group. As I have mentioned, BORA is unlikely to put on an extreme chase; Lidl-Trek surely don't have the confidence that Mads Pedersen will keep the jersey even if he is on his best day; and on such terrain it's not hard to control even a modest breakaway meaning that basically only UAE have the power to really control it - but don't really have a reason to. Pello Bilbao is the clear rider that has shown good legs and has shed time to have the freedom now; Lorenzo Fortunato is certain to give it a shot taking into consideration his KOM ambitions; whilst I also argue Nicolas Prodhomme, Wout Poels, Mattia Cattaneo and Marco Frigo should have this ambition and equally the legs to take the stage win.

*** Primoz Roglic, Lorenzo Fortunato, Pello Bilbao
** Juan Ayuso, Giulio Ciccone, Michael Storer, Mattia Cattaneo
* Brandon McNulty, Isaac del Toro, Adam Yates, Antonio Tiberi, Richard Carapaz, Egan Bernal, Derek Gee, Einer Rubio, Tom Pidcock, Simon Yates, Nicolas Prodhomme, Wout Poels, Marco Frigo

Pick: Lorenzo Fortunato

How: Breakaway win