At the 2025 edition, the first real shake-up stage is the Tagliacozzo one, which starts in Castel di Sangro, just as it did at Giro d’Italia 2021 before heading to Campo Felice. The Abruzzo town has hosted just two stage starts in Giro history, but neither is anything close to ordinary.

If we’re all holding our breath for this year’s Castel di Sangro–Tagliacozzo stage, we all remember the 2021 one vividly thanks to its spectacular uphill finish on the gravel roads of Rocca di Cambio, and because at the end of that stage, one of the most beloved and respected riders in the peloton, Egan Bernal, pulled on the Maglia Rosa. The Colombian was the most anticipated man of the day, but there was just as much curiosity around Remco Evenepoel, who was back to racing after that horrific crash at Il Lombardia the previous season.

That stage came down to the wire, in the last 1500 meters, when Bernal launched his attack, dropped everyone, and blew past the last two remaining breakaway riders – Koen Bouwman and Geoffrey Bouchard – who had dared to dream of a stage win. Bernal didn’t even raise his arms at the finish, but behind him, the then-leader Attila Valter had cracked, and from that moment until the final celebration in Milan, it was Bernal who wore the Maglia Rosa.

“I’ve won the Tour, but this jersey brings tears to my eyes… I’ve already cried twice,” Bernal admitted in the press conference. “I didn’t raise my arms because I wasn’t sure I had it. I was just focused, head down, pedaling”.

Behind him that day came Giulio Ciccone and Aleksandr Vlasov, while Evenepoel finished fourth, his last strong result before withdrawing from that Giro a few days later, lacking form due to his long recovery. That 2021 edition was the only Giro Bernal had raced – until his much-awaited return this year.