Giro d’Italia 2025

Stage 20 – Verrès > Sestrière (Vialattea) (205km)

Sat 31st May | KM0 1050 CET

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Where: Starting in the Aosta Valley, heading south past Turin and ending in the ski resort of Sestrière in Italy’s western Alps.  

 
 

Weather: Hot and sunny again.

Stage Type: Mountain.

Climbs: Four that are categorised but this stage is all about one – the Colle delle Finestre. This year’s Cima Coppi (given to the climb which peaks at the highest point in the race – 2,178m in this case) is 18.5km long at an average gradient of 9.2% with the second half raced on gravel roads and it will be where not just the stage, but the whole Giro d’Italia will be decided.

Start: Gently descending or rolling roads for the first 50km before they hit the fourth-category Corio (7.5km at 3.5%) meaning lighter climbers will probably need help from heavier, rouleur teammates to make the break.  

Finish: The Colle delle Finestre is crested with 28km to go before a descent and then the third-category summit finish up to Sestrière measured at 16.2km at 3.8% although the final 7km average a more demanding 6% which may be telling at the end of such a hard race.

Stage suits: GC favourites and excellent climbers outside of GC contention.

Breakaway chances: 50/50. There’s enough valley road for the break to build up a decent lead before they hit Finestre, but they’ll need it as this is where we should see fireworks from behind.

What will happen?: UAE Team Emirates looked strong on stage 19 and controlled the race very well for Isaac del Toro. They’ll try to do something similar here though at some point, EF Education EasyPost will set up Richard Carapaz for an attack on the Finistre. Can Del Toro hang on to his 43secs lead? Who knows? But it should be exciting to find out.


Stage 20 Contenders


GC favourites

Richard Carapaz (2/1; 3.0) couldn’t do any damage on stage 19 – and even lost time to Del Toro due to bonus seconds on the line – mainly due to the relatively shallow gradients on the climbs, but that’s not the case here. If Carapaz manages to gap Del Toro on the Finestre, he has a big chance of winning the Giro d’Italia.

Isaac del Toro (3/1; 4.0) has just 43secs on Carapaz and is the slight bookies favourite to lift the Trofeo Senza Fine in Rome. The Finestre is the big test though and even if he’s dropped, does have that small cushion to play with – this could be very close indeed.

Giulio Pellizzari (14/1; 15.0) managed to crash into the barrier on the final bend having looked in good shape for most of the stage. He didn’t look too badly affected, but it’s not ideal and he could be a bit stiff in the morning.

Derek Gee (16/1; 17.0) has a good shot at ending up on the podium by the day’s end given his current form.

Simon Yates (25/1; 26.0) doesn’t have good memories of the Finestre having seen his Giro bid evaporate there seven years ago. He wasn’t happy with team tactics after stage 19 but in truth he looks a step behind the front two.

 

For the breakaway

Lorenzo Fortunato (18/1; 19.0) has secured the maglia azzurra but a stage win would top it off for the Italian who has ridden an excellent Giro. Wout Poels (28/1; 29.0) is again one of the shorter priced breakaway options but we haven’t seen him up the road enough to have any confidence in his levels.  

Nicolas Prodhomme (28/1; 29.0) took a great win on stage 19 but that was a very big day out so to double up would be a challenge.

Michael Storer (33/1; 34.0) is now over 9mins down on GC in what’s been a frustrating Giro for the Aussie having hit the deck four times. He could turn it around with a win from the breakaway here, however. If not Storer, then Florian Stork (33/1; 34.0), who was second on the stage that Carlos Verona won, stayed with his Tudor Pro Cycling teammate for a long way on stage 19 showing his level is very high.

Antonio Tiberi (33/1; 34.0) was out in the break on stage 19 but couldn’t live with Prodhomme. Coming in as a genuine GC podium contender, if his body has recovered sufficiently and his mind is right, then he could threaten for stage honours from the break.

Tom Pidcock (33/1; 34.0) was in a move off the front that didn’t stick on stage 19 showing that he is willing to get up the road. The gravel is a plus but he does seem to be getting dropped quite early from the group of favourites when the road goes up which isn’t encouraging.  

Max Poole (80/1; 81.0) had a bad day on stage 19, perhaps suffering in the heat but his price is big if he recovers and gets up the road.

 

Stage 20 Bets

Given that this is the final road stage, it’s likely to kick off early amongst the favourites on the Colle delle Finestre which makes a win from the GC group most likely. But we could have some very good climbers up the road, so let’s play both scenarios again.

Derek Gee 1pt win and 3 places @16/1

Michael Storer 1pt win and 3 places @33/1

Tom Pidcock 1pt win and 3 places @33/1

Max Poole 0.5pts win and 3 places @80/1 – 8th


Posted 2124 BST Fri 30th May 2025

Prices quoted are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change

Stage 20 Result

1st Chris Harper

2nd Alessandro Verre

3rd Simon Yates