Simon Yates wins 2025 Giro d'Italia; Del Toro and Carapaz on the podium - Final overall classification

Simon Yates of Team Visma | Lease a Bike has won the 2025 Giro d'Italia. Team Visma | Lease a Bike have won all Grand Tours in 2023, in 2024 UAE Team Emirates - XRG took over the top of the cycling world, but now the Dutch team has directly defeated it's rival in the fight for the overall classification.

This is the Briton's first ever Giro d'Italia victory. He has in the past won the Vuelta a España back in 2018, however the Corsa Rosa was the race of his dreams and after dramatically losing it on the Colle delle Finestre seven years ago, this weekend he has conquered it on the very same climb in what was one of modern cycling's most memorable stages.

On week 1 of the race, Mads Pedersen took the first stage win and in the first Albanian stage Derek Gee and Thymen Arensman lost time on the road. Primoz Roglic distanced his rivals in the stage 2 time-trial won by Joshua Tarling in Tirana; but the fight for the overall classification would only really begin on stage 7 with the summit finish to Tagliacozzo. Here Juan Ayuso took the victory but the small gaps between the GC favourites would would make little difference in the final standings.

Stage 9 changed everything, with Isaac del Toro going for a spectacular attack in the gravel stage to Siena, gaining meaningful time on all his GC rivals and moving into the pink jersey. Primoz Roglic crashed on this day (as did Juan Ayuso off-camera) and lost more time. The crash of both these riders ultimately led them to fall out of the GC race and later on withdraw from the race as a whole.

During stages 9 and 11 (week 2) UAE prioritized racing as a block, and whilst Isaac del Toro moved off the front, the team worked for Juan Ayuso who remained the most likely to win the race. On stage 14, the crash-marred finale saw Del Toro, Yates and Carapaz gain more time on the likes of Juan Ayuso, Primoz Roglic and Antonio Tiberi who were all affected by the falls. On stage 15 the Slovenian would fall out of the fight for the win, whilst the GC contenders attacked each other but arrived at the finish together. Isaac del Toro would head into the final week in the lead, but into the unknown as it was his first time fighting for the GC in a Grand Tour.

Week 3 of the race started with a monstrous stage that saw huge gaps. Juan Ayuso, injured, fell out of GC contention and paved the way for Isaac del Toro's solo leadership. But the UAE rider struggled in the finale to San Valentino, where the high mountains proved too difficult and where both Richard Carapaz and Simon Yates gained time on him, coming within 30 seconds of the pink jersey.

The following day Carapaz attacked on the Passo del Mortirolo and gapped the Mexican, but after the catch was made on the descent, Del Toro struck back with a stellar finale to take the stage win in Bormio, extending his lead over the rivals. On stage 19 in the Valle d'Aosta, Del Toro would survive the attacks of Carapaz, whilst he was not truly tested in the long ascents that were not as favourable to him. He once again extended his lead into stage 20.

But here everything changed. EF Education-EasyPost and Carapaz launched an unexpected all-out attack right in the base of the climb, destroying the peloton within a couple of minutes and isolating Del Toro. The Mexican would withstand every single attack from Carapaz, but in the first kilometers Simon Yates would bridge across to them and then successfully distance them in the 19-kilometer long climb.

The gap at the top was of around 1:30 minutes, but the internal arguments between Del Toro and Carapaz, alongside the lack of satellite riders in the breakaway (whilst Yates had Wout van Aert) saw the gap grow exponentially. In what could only be described as a movie scenario, Yates conquered the Giro d'Italia in the same mountain that had crushed his dreams 7 years prior.