Rescheduled route presentation date for 2025 Giro d'Italia remains undecided
Rumours of new January 13 date not confirmed by organisers
The new date for the postponed 2025 Giro d'Italia route presentation has yet to be set, with a widely rumoured new date of January 13.
The routes for both the upcoming men's Giro d'Italia and Giro d'Italia Women were originally due to be revealed on November 12 but were subsequently postponed.
Cyclingnews understands from multiple well-placed sources that, contrary to reports claiming the delayed presentations will happen on January 13, a new date has yet to be set and only then will organisers RCS make it official.
The location, though, is all but certain to be in Rome, reportedly set to host the final stage of the Giro, for the third year running, on June 1 2025.
Rumours have abounded of possible logistical and financial difficulties surrounding the opening few days of the Giro d'Italia in Albania. But there have been no clear updates reinforcing that theory.
For now, it seems that the Grande Partenza and three or four Albanian stages from Friday, May 9 onwards will go ahead as planned. An announcement to that effect is expected in mid-December.
Another potential question mark has been raised over the ongoing sponsorship of Italian company Enel of the pink leader's jersey, reportedly worth up to €8 million and set to run out at the end of 2024.
Enel has been sponsoring the Giro since 2016. However, the company has reportedly recently agreed on a deal to sponsor the Italian national team, so there is some speculation they may have changed branding strategies.
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Cyclingnews understands that the broad brushstrokes of the 2025 Giro race route are already decided. With teams keen to finalise their main riders' race programs, organisers will be under pressure to release at least some details to squads off the record.
According to AS, the 2025 route for the men's Giro will include two time trials, as well as a penultimate stage summit finish at Sestrieres and a stage across the infamous Stelvio. The route of the Giro d'Italia Women, set for July 6-13, is also fully decided.
Meanwhile, the 2025 Tour de France route has already been published, and the course of next year's Vuelta a España, said to feature a return to the legendary Angliru, is due to take place on December 19 in Madrid.
Alasdair Fotheringham has been reporting on cycling since 1991. He has covered every Tour de France since 1992 bar one, as well as numerous other bike races of all shapes and sizes, ranging from the Olympic Games in 2008 to the now sadly defunct Subida a Urkiola hill climb in Spain. As well as working for Cyclingnews, he has also written for The Independent, The Guardian, ProCycling, The Express and Reuters.
- Stephen FarrandHead of News