Tips for the FREE Fantasy Giro d'Italia 2025 from CyclingUpToDate.com

The 108th Giro d'Italia kicks off on Friday, May 9th, 13.30 hours CET in Albania. Stage one features a challenging course, giving Wout van Aert a prime opportunity to chase the coveted pink jersey. The Visma team leader came up empty-handed this spring and will be eager to make his mark in the Giro. But the competition is fierce, with world-class riders like Mads Pedersen and Tom Pidcock also lining up at the start.

After three weeks, the peloton will finish in Rome, having faced two time trials, a Strade Bianche-style stage, and iconic climbs such as the Mortirolo and Finestre. The final week, in particular, promises to be brutal—and thrilling to watch. Primoz Roglic is aiming for a second overall victory, but he'll need to overcome top contenders like Juan Ayuso, Richard Carapaz, Mikel Landa, and the Yates brothers.
Following the Giro d'Italia becomes even more exciting with the Fantasy Giro d'Italia!

How does this game work? All riders have been assigned a value, and before the start of the race, you select 25 riders within a budget of 330 million. For each stage, you then pick 7 riders to compete for points for your team. It’s important to find the right balance between sprinters, climbers, time trial specialists, and attackers. Each day, the top 25 finishers of the stage earn points. The top 25 of the overall classification also earn points, but for this, all of your riders are eligible, so no lineup selection is needed

The game starts Friday 09-05-2025 13:30 hours CET! Participation is completely FREE!

In addition to a general ranking with all participants, you can also start your own subleague. To compete against friends, colleagues, and family. Will you crown yourself as the cycling expert of Cyclinguptodate.com?

Below we added tips and analyses fom our specialist for the Fantasy Giro d'Italia!!

There are two names that particularly matter when it comes to the fight for the Maglia Rosa. The winners of Tirreno-Adriatico and the Volta a Catalunya: Juan Ayuso and Primoz Roglic. Already before they began their season they were the main names to take into account, but as soon as they began racing this proved to be an accurate expectation. Ayuso won several races early in the year, and at Tirreno-Adriatico took a dominant win with a strong time-trial and victory in the queen stage.

In Catalunya, his climbing prowess led to some tight battles with Roglic, but the Slovenian veteran still has a few cards up his sleeve and made the decisive difference in the final hilly circuit in Catalunya. Catalunya saw many of the Giro favourites in action head-to-head and two clearly came out on top. Ayuso will however be backed up by a very strong Adam Yates who hasn't shown his true colours yet this year but if he does, could prove to be another very viable victory contender.

From the Tour of the Alps emerged another now potential podium candidate in Michael Storer who put in a staggering week of racing to win the overall classification. Thymen Arensman and Derek Gee showed tremendous form in the final few days, putting them forward as men to watch already from the start of the Corsa Rosa; whilst Giulio Ciccone could also enjoy a day of glory in Italy.

Antonio Tiberi abandoned the race ill and so as not shown his true form recently, but after last year's fourth place, the defending youth classification winner will be leading an ambitious and focused Bahrain - Victorious. Mikel Landa, Simon Yates, David Gaudu, Romain Bardet and Richard Carapaz are also riders looking to finish off high in the GC.

There won't be too many opportunities for the fast men, however a victory at the Giro is one that sticks in your palmarès forever and for that reason some of the best sprinters in the world will make the trip to the southern European nation. Team Visma | Lease a Bike will be supporting Olav Kooij in these in hopes of getting some wins and likely his main rivals will be Alpecin-Deceuninck's Kaden Groves and Soudal - Quick-Step's Paul Magnier.

Sam Bennett, Milan Fretin, Fernando Gaviria, Gerben Thijssen and Corbin Strong will also be amongst the headliners for the flat arrivals - whilst in some hilly days, the sprints could see other faces be towards the head of the action.

Of course, outside of the high mountains and the pure bunch sprints, there are plenty of days that suit breakaways - mostly on the hills, or simply days where a sprint is expected but not all will arrive there. After their brilliant performances in the cobbled classics, Wout van Aert and Mads Pedersen both come directly and in hopes of capturing stage wins.

Joshua Tarling will definitely be the headliner for the race's time-trials outside of the GC favourites, whilst in the hilly days we can also expect a lot of action from debutant Tom Pidcock who leads Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team, Marc Hirschi who will be hunting stages for Tudor Pro Cycling Team and of course Christian Scaroni who earlier in the year even led the UCI points chart of 2025.

Primoz Roglic (€50 million) or Juan Ayuso (€44.7 million)? - The big question is who will win the overall classification of the Corsa Rosa. On the top lay two riders, Primoz Roglic and Juan Ayuso - both riders with a few flaws, but with strong points as well besides their obvious climbing abilities. In both time-trials the two should be able to perform and score points, whilst their Volta a Catalunya performances heavily hint at strong sprints and the ability to chase bonus seconds throughout the race. Roglic obviously has one Giro and several editions of La Vuelta in the bag and has beaten Ayuso in Catalunya so begins with a higher value, but collectively speaking UAE may have an advantage and Ayuso may be a good value victor.

Wout van Aert (€26.6 million) - At such a low value, Wout van Aert is simply great value. At his best, the Belgian is a menace in the Grand Tours due to his incredible versatility and consistency. He has found his best form at the perfect time during the cobbled monuments and he should show great form at the Giro. With no Jonas Vingegaard or Matteo Jorgenson next to him he will not have major domestique duties. In the flat bunch sprints he should support Olav Kooij, but there will be plenty hilly, mountain and time-trial stages where the Belgian should chase his own results. Last year at the Vuelta he had won three stages and led both points and KOM classifications before he was forced to abandon due to a crash.

Michael Storer (€23.4 million) - The Australian's inclusion has a very obvious reason which is his recent Tour of the Alps triumph. For an overall classification contender, he has great value, costing half of Juan Ayuso and showing incredible climbing form throughout the five days of mountainous racing. Storer not only won a stage in the Alps, but several times proved to be the strongest climber in the race. His collective support is a question, but last year he already finished 10th and has proven to be able to handle the three weeks.

Thymen Arensman (€21.9 million) - The Dutchman won the queen stage of the Tour of the Alps and finished second in the overall classification, significantly improving his form throughout the race. He should arrive fresh and quite fit to the Giro, co-leading INEOS Grenadiers alongside Egan Bernal. He has the experience, a strong team behind him and a great degree of confidence from the team which can come to great use.

Milan Fretin (€14.6 million) - In a field where the top sprinters are the likes of Olav Kooij and Kaden Groves, Cofidis' Milan Fretin definitely has the chance of winning a bunch sprint in this Giro. He has shown great legs this year, being one of the breakthrough riders, and has won a high-level sprint at the Volta ao Algarve. Within the fast men, he certainly has great value.

Lorenzo Fortunato (€9.9 million) - A recent stage winner at the Tour de Romandie, the Italian has proven his form and has shown good performances in the past editions of the Giro. Astana is searching for UCI points and he will be a valuable leader for a mountainous edition of the Corsa Rosa. He is a great value GC contender, very well capable of finishing on the Top10.

Following the Giro d'Italia becomes even more exciting with the Fantasy Giro d'Italia!