Last year’s rebirth edition of Il Giro d’Abruzzo was won by Alexey Lutsenko, but the Kazakh rider won’t be lining up this year, leaving the throne wide open. The 2025 route, once again, will favour strong climbers, who will need to build their GC ambitions one stage at a time, with challenges scattered across all four days.
The most well-equipped – or at least most experienced – team appears to be Israel–Premier Tech, who will rely on George Bennett, third overall last year, and Stephen Williams. The Welshman has chosen Abruzzo as a testing ground ahead of the Ardennes Classics, where he will defend his Flèche Wallonne title from last season. After a start to the year in Australia and a few physical issues, this will be Williams’ European debut for 2025. That said, New Zealander Bennett, who has been chasing a win for over four years, could take on leadership duties.
UAE Team Emirates–XRG will give space to Alessandro Covi, often limited to a supporting role within his star-studded squad. But keep an eye on the ultra-promising Spanish climber Pablo Torres, born in 2005, who was runner-up at both the Giro Next Gen and the Tour de l’Avenir last season, where he also claimed two stage wins.
There’s a good mix of experienced riders who could make an impact on GC, starting with Louis Meintjes (Intermarché–Wanty), a three-time Tour de France Top 10 finisher. Also watch out for David De La Cruz and Damien Howson (Q36.5), both well-suited to the punchy terrain of Abruzzo. Among the younger names, Tudor brings an exciting duo in Matys Rondel and Marco Brenner, while JCL Team Ukyo counters with Alessandro Fancellu and Simone Raccani.
Other GC contenders include Valerio Conti (Solution Tech–Vini Fantini), Luca Paletti and Matteo Scalco (VF Group–Bardiani CSF–Faizanè), and Pavel Novak (MBH Bank Ballan Csb), who finished 5th at last year’s Giro Next Gen. Also in the mix: Ludovico Crescioli and Fernando Tercero (Polti–VistMalta), Harm Vanhoucke (Q36.5), Moritz Kretschy (Israel–Premier Tech), Kevin Colleoni and Georg Zimmermann (Intermarché–Wanty), Dennis Lock (General Store), Cesar Macias (Petrolike), and Francesco Parravano (Mg.K Vis–Costruzioni e Ambiente).
As for stage hunters, expect fireworks from Luca Colnaghi, fresh off his win at the Giro della Città Metropolitana di Reggio Calabria, along with Martin Marcellusi, Filippo Fiorelli, and Enrico Zanoncello (VF Group–Bardiani CSF–Faizanè). Nicolò Parisini (Q36.5), Kristian Sbaragli (Solution Tech–Vini Fantini), Andrea D’Amato (JCL Team Ukyo), and the SC Padovani Polo Cherry Bank duo of Matteo Baseggio and Federico Guzzo will also be targeting stage glory.
