PREVIEW | Giro d'Italia 2025 stage 8 - Chaotic day could see breakaway win, but UAE can also set fire to GC race

The Corsa Rosa is the first Grand Tour of the season and this year it will include a start in a nation that will for the first time in it's history host a Grand Tour, Albania; and also several mountain stages in it's second half whilst the first half will feature some tricky stages including one that goes through a lot of the Strade Bianche course. We preview stage 8.

Stage 8 is a true Giro classic, with plenty climbs of different lengths and gradients, a day well suited to a breakaway but where a lot can happen. We have difficult ascents on this day, but will the GC riders risk it before what is one of the key stages of the race?

It's a grizzly Giro day with 3700 meters of climbing and they will be spread from start to finish, with almost 200 kilometers in distance making it an endurance challenge as well. Climbers and puncheurs could fight for a stage win from a breakaway, in the peloton it's hard to believe anyone can or will want to control such a difficult and tricky day. Most will want to keep their GC aspirations safe, save their legs towards the gravel stage, or potentially even attack in the final hilltops.

There is a major climb to note which is the ascent to Sassotetto, 13 kilometers at over 7% which ends with 91 kilometers to go. Later on, 5.5Km at 6.9% which end with 45 kilometers to go... And then two small explosive ascents before the downhill finale into Castelraimondo.

The first is 1.4 kilometers at 7.3% which summit with 20 kilometers to go and have an intermediate sprint alongside it; whilst the second has two sections, the last of which 600 meters at 8% with a finale only 6.5 kilometers from the finish which can stimulate attacks. The downhill will go all the way into the final kilometer and there is the chance to create some small differences.

On Friday a very bad day weather-wise, but on Saturday it's all clear. We may have some damp roads in the mountains, but it will be a sunny day without much wind to take into consideration.

GC Fight - There are two sides of the coin. One dictates that this is a stage very well suited for raids and with BORA fragile, UAE can take advantage and try to attack. It's a very difficult day to control, and on those large ascents UAE can destroy BORA and then with Isaac del Toro, Brandon McNulty and Adam Yates, launch attacks - one of them could stick. Many riders can take advantage of the fact that it is still early in the race to escape the GC rivals as the 'order' in the mountains isn't yet fully clear.

But will UAE do it? I would say they should, specially after Juan Ayuso dealt a mental blow to Primoz Roglic and looked stronger in a climb that suited Roglic better. UAE have the reason to pile on the pressure whilst they still have many GC options. But at the same time, it has thus far been a conservative Giro, and the next day we've got the 'Strade Bianche' stage, which means that lots will be looking to save their legs and spend as least as possible.

There are other variables to take into account, such as an unusually strong Bahrain who've got not only Antonio Tiberi's good form confirmation but also a stellar Damiano Caruso who's got nothing to lose; Giulio Ciccone and the wildcard Mathias Vacek who is a tremendous rider and very dangerous in that final section of the stage; whilst riders like Egan Bernal and Richard Carapaz are naturally aggressive and both looked better than expected today in my opinion. The explosive finale can also fit Tom Pidcock very well, but it's unlikely that the peloton will fight for the win.

Breakaway - The day features some difficult climbing, but what must be taken into consideration is that the large ascent is unlikely to actually see any meaningful action. In the peloton it certainly won't be the case, and in the breakaway there's little reason (in the regular way of racing) for riders to be attacking there, with two hours of racing left. And so, the stage is likely to be decided on the smaller climbs, and because of the rolling terrain we may see some rouleurs also surprising.

I would be surprised to see Wout van Aert already looking sharp, but he has been improving and this is a finale that suits him. Of course, it can't be in a sprint, but he is a rider who is not afraid to attack. Riders such as Andrea Vendrame, Francesco Busatto, Edoardo Zambanini and Filippo Fiorelli however do pack a very strong sprint and are exactly the kind of puncheurs who can usually get around days like this quite well (and they are all Italian, which may come as a bonus). Jayco interestingly have three riders who are all very similar and are all well suited to this stage, one of them at least should be in front: Paul Double, Felix Engelhardt and Davide de Pretto.

Then we have climbers, but they are men who must indeed push early on such as Pello Bilbao, Romain Bardet, Lorenzo Fortunato, Jay Vine, Wout Poels, Jefferson Alveiro Cepeda, Marco Brenner, Mattia Cattaneo... And inbetween all of these, a few I wouldn't classify under a specific term such as Diego Ulissi, Mads Pedersen, Nicola Conci, Florian Stork and Ben Turner.

*** Pello Bilbao, Mattia Catanneo, Francesco Busatto
** Edoardo Zambanini, Paul Double, Diego Ulissi, Mads Pedersen
* Wout van Aert, Filippo Fiorello, Andrea Vendrame, Romain Bardet, Felix Engelhardt, Lorenzo Fortunato, Jay Vine, Jefferson Alveiro Cepeda, Wout Poels, Ben Turner, Primoz Roglic, Juan Ayuso, Isaac del Toro, Michael Storer

Pick: Francesco Busatto

How: Breakaway victory, sprint from a small group.