WorldTour
Mid-Giro reflections on the way to Rome
A Giro that brought a strong start has taken some sharp turns, but the team continues the fight towards Rome.
Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe commenced the Giro with high ambitions, led by Primož Roglič, who secured an early second-place finish in the Stage two time trial in Tirana, finishing only very narrowly behind stage winner Tarling. This performance earned the Slovenian rider the maglia rosa for the first time in this year's race, and marked a promising beginning for the team.
Stage six, however, brought significant challenges; a mass crash in wet conditions led to the withdrawal of key rider Jai Hindley. Teammates Giovanni Aleotti, Dani Martínez and Jan Tratnik also went down in the incident, another challenge for the squad to work to overcome. The following stage, Primož took back the pink jersey for another day, after finishing in a reduced group in the race’s first mountaintop finish.
Primož Roglič celebrates Stage 7 victory at Giro d’Italia 2025
© Maximilian Fries / Red Bull Content Pool
The gravel terrain of Stage nine proved tough, with Primož experiencing an untimely crash and puncture, resulting in a loss of around two minutes, which saw him drop to tenth in the general classification. As the team now takes in the rest day, the squad remains determined, however, to capitalise on the opportunities remaining in the second half of the race on the road to Rome.
Sports Director Christian Pömer:
I think it was always expected that this Giro would deliver some major drama on the Strade Bianche stage. We ended up playing one of the roles in that drama that didn’t play out in the most positive way, which is a shame, as we had such a strong start in Albania. Primož took a great second place in the time trial and wore the pink jersey. Things were going smoothly from there.
But with a bit of distance, I can now say that the crash really hit us hard. Everyone knows we lost Jai Hindley in that incident, one of our key riders. But Giovanni Aleotti also came out of it in bad shape. Dani Martínez was affected too, and also Jan Tratnik has been dealing with some issues since then.
From that moment on, it hasn’t been the race we envisaged. I think we handled stages seven and eight quite well, but unfortunately, on the gravel stage, Primož wasn’t able to receive the support he deserved. That’s why, looking at the race overall, things feel a bit frustrating right now.
Still, I want to highlight Giulio Pellizzari. He’s a young, talented rider with a bright future, and it’s been great to see him develop. And I also think that as a team, as a unit, we’ve really grown together over the last few days. The spirit is strong.
As I’ve said before: the final week of the Giro always has the potential to change everything. That’s our mantra now. We’ll fight together all the way to the Colosseum in Rome, aiming for the best result possible, and we hope the process keeps moving in the right direction.
