Stage 19 Preview: Aosta Valley Showdown

For today’s stage, there’s a rhyme worth memorizing: Croce Serra, Col Tzecore, Col Saint-Pantaléon, Col de Joux, and Antagnod. What are they? They’re the climbs awaiting the peloton in what, for its timing and context, we can rightly call the Queen Stage of the Giro d’Italia 2025, the 166 km Biella – Champoluc, featuring nearly 5,000 meters of elevation gain. For those watching from home, we recommend not missing a single kilometer of the full live broadcast. And for those out on the course — enjoy the show!

5 KOMs, 3 first category

The first climb will begin just 3 km into the stage—just enough to warm up the riders’ legs and tempt breakaway hopefuls to attack right from the start. It’s the Croce Serra (3rd cat., 11.2 km at 4.6%), which will be the gentlest ascent of the day. After that, things get serious: first with the Col Tzecore (1st cat., 16 km at 7.7%) – tackled for only the second time in Giro history after its 2018 debut, when Giulio Ciccone was first over the top – then with the Col Saint-Pantaléon (1st cat., 16.5 km at 7.2%), making its fifth Giro appearance, and finally the Col de Joux (1st cat., 15.1 km at 6.9%), which has already featured seven times in the race’s history.

At that point, 19 km will remain, but the challenges aren’t over. Right after Col de Joux comes a short 6 km descent, followed by the first-ever ascent of Antognod (2nd cat., 9.5 km at 4.5%), which gets steeper in its second half, where the average gradient exceeds 7%. While not an especially difficult climb on paper, after four Alpine passes, it will be all about who still has energy left. The summit comes with 5 km to go, mostly downhill, leading to the finish in Champoluc.

All against Del Toro

So far, Richard Carapaz (EF Education–EasyPost) has looked like the strongest climber in the race. Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates–XRG) has shown some difficulty on the longer climbs, but he should not be underestimated, the Maglia Rosa won’t be given up easily.

Among the climbers in top form are Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull–Bora–hansgrohe), who thrives on long ascents, along with Simon Yates (Visma | Lease a Bike), Derek Gee (Israel–PremierTech), and possibly Max Poole (Picnic PostNL) and Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious). One thing is certain: it’s going to be a war on the climbs.