Preview, favourites, profile, route and predictions Giro dell'Emilia 2025 - Roglic, Pidcock and Del Toro battle for win after Pogacar's reign

The Giro dell'Emilia is one of the most prestigious races in pro cycling and it often sees many of the world's best climbers and puncheurs battle in the streets of Bologna for a victory in one of the Italian Autumn classics. We preview the race that is set to take place on the 4th of October, having an estimated start time at 10:25CET and finishing at 14:55CET.

The race has a lot of history and is certainly one for the climbers taking into consideration recent history. On paper, the short and sharp climbs favour the puncheurs, but nowadays most climbers do these sorts of ascents better than the classics specialists.

In addition, the riders already arrive to Bologna with quite a bit of climbing in the legs, moving from Mirandola with four 'categorized' climbs on the day before the final circuit. This one is well known to fans and riders who've been here before, with five laps including the ascent to the Madona di San Luca.

The climb is 2.1 kilometers long at 9.4% and a maximum gradient of 17%, very steep right from the bottom. A truly anaerobic effort, with a small hilltop right after the summit and a very fast and technical descent separating the laps. It is a circuit where you cannot chase and where early attacks can succeed if you are the strongest. It is a race that is not often very tactical because the gradients of the climb allow for differences to easily be made by those that have the best legs.

BORA - This is a mega BORA team with virtually all of their leaders except Florian Lipowitz and Maxim van Gils for such terrain. They don't have the man to beat, there is no-one with that status in this race, but I would say they are potentially the team to beat (although UAE may step in to take that status). Primoz Roglic is a former winner here, is in good form and is a rider that loves these short and steep climbs; whilst the team has Jai Hindley and Giulio Pellizzari also as winning candidates; whilst the likes of Aleksandr Vlasov and Jan Tratnik can both be luxury domestiques or potential tactical cards. The German team has a lot of possibilities.

UAE - Isaac del Toro stunned again at the World Championships and we could say he's only a step away from becoming a world-class leader in his own right. The Mexican's versatility, explosivity, riding style and climbing skills remind us of Tadej Pogacar and he may just be the strongest rider in this startlist. UAE have weapons such as Jay Vine and Adam Yates, but they are non-explosive pure climbers whilst Del Toro can also win in a small group sprint, besides having the legs to attack anyone in this race successfully.

Tom Pidcock - Second last year, the Briton also comes in with great form and as a rider perfectly suited for such a race. Pidcock hasn't net a big win in a few months now and it may come as this terrain is quite explosive and the descents technical. He won't have the team to match BORA or EF but if he has the legs, he will be hard to drop in the ultra-steep gradients.

Climbers - We've got a few teams that are incredibly stacked. Take Bahrain for example who come in with Afonso Eulálio, Lenny Martínez, Antonio Tiberi and Pello Bilbao... They can attack, use them as luxury domestiques but the sheer number of potential leaders means they will be present regardless; INEOS have Thymen Arensman and Egan Bernal whilst Jayco has their whole climbing setup including Ben O'Connor, Luke Plapp and Eddie Dunbar.

Last year's podium finisher Davide Piganzoli could look to surprise again, and we've got other climbers present such as Tobias Johannessen, Lorenzo Fortunato, Cian Uijtdebroeks, Mikel Landa, Einer Rubio and Ruben Guerreiro.

Puncheurs - We can consider them for sure, although it will require a calmer race and for the pace to only really increase towards the final two laps or so. Julian Alaphilippe and Jordan Labrosse represent the French, Ben Tulett should be Visma's strongest card to play and Astana could also potentially see the likes of Simone Velasco and Sergio Higuita resist the pace and then fight for a strong result in the final lap. 

*** Isaac del Toro, Primoz Roglic, Tom Pidcock
** Jai Hindley
* Giulio Pellizzari, Adam Yates, Jay Vine, Afonso Eulálio, Lenny Martínez, Atonio Tiberi, Egan Bernal, Davide Piganzoli, Tobias Johannesen, Mikel Landa, Ben Tulett

Pick: Isaac del Toro

How: Small group sprint