Giro d'Italia 2025: Riccardo Magrini talks about the pink race without Pogacar and Evenepoel

The one that starts from Durazzo in Albania on Friday 9th May and will end in Rome on Sunday 1st June, will be the thirtieth Tour of Italy as a protagonist of Riccardo Magrini. Nine Tours as an athlete (thirtieth the best final placement), two in the flagship as sports director (Domina Vacanze with captain Mario Cipollini and Magniflex) and 19 as a technical commentator for Eurosport and a voice that has been increasingly appreciated and loved by cycling enthusiasts year after year. We reached Magrini, who is also passionate about skiing, after the nomination received from the Municipality of Abetone Cutigliano, as the first ambassador of Abetone in the world, an nomination that Riccardo cares a lot about.

What will Magrini's Giro d'Italia 2025 be like? "Together with Luca Gregorio we will broadcast all the stages of the pink race in full with contributions from former cycling champions, starting with Moreno Moser. At the end of the stages there will also be a special television broadcast, while on the OASport website I will create a column entitled 'La Fagianata'".

What kind of Giro will it be this year without Pogacar and Evenepool? "A Giro that is certainly more open and spectacular without them, with stages that promise to be a spectacle, even if there won't be any real stages. A beautiful Giro."

Who are your favorites for the pink race? "Without a doubt Roglic and Ayuso and if I have to play one of the two, I will spend a little more on the Spaniard from the UAE, young, brilliant and eager to assert himself."

There are also Carapaz and Bernal, two important names. "They are both motivated for the Giro and have stated so on several occasions. We will have to follow them with interest to see if they will be able to return to expressing themselves as they did a few years ago. I will also mention a few other names among the foreigners, such as the Belgian Van Aert for the stages, Hindley, Nairo Quintana, Landa, Yates and Bardet. Among the sprinters who will aim for the special jersey, the names of the Danish Pedersen, Kooj, Magnier".

Let's get to the Italians who will be in the race. "The first name is Antonio Tiberi who must show further room for growth and then Giulio Ciccone who recently appeared in excellent form with the prestigious second place in the Liège-Bastogne-Liège behind super Pogacar. We give credit to these two athletes who we await with confidence in this Giro".

And what about the other national runners present? "There is Piganzoli from whom we would like to see important signals, then Fortunato, while Damiano Caruso I believe will be above all in support of Tiberi, a classification man who given his skills can also do well in the planned time trial stages and I am thinking of the Tuscan one from the walls of Lucca to the Leaning Tower of Pisa".

Antonio Mannori