CYCLING – TEAM Bahrain Victorious are set to compete from today in the 48th edition of the Tour of the Alps, formerly the Giro del Trentino, in Italy.
The kingdom’s pro cycling team head to the event, part of this year’s UCI Pro Series, with high hopes after clinching third overall last year. This year’s route covers 747 kilometres and it includes over 16,000 metres of climbing, leading many to declare it as the toughest five days of racing on the 2025 calendar.
The peloton will depart from San Lorenzo Dorsino today morning and arrive in Lienz – the capital of East Tyrol – on Friday afternoon, with each of the five stages having the potential to influence the final standings.
Bahrain Victorious star Antonio Tiberi finished third overall in 2024 ahead of winning the youth classification at the Giro d’Italia the following month. The Italian returns this year hoping for another good result, before the year’s first ‘Grand Tour’. As well as having ambitions for the race itself, Tiberi will be using the week as part of his final preparations for the upcoming Giro, and will have compatriot Damiano Caruso – returning to the race for the first time since 2017 and himself a former runner up at the 2021 Giro – alongside him for every pedal stroke.
Gorazd Stangelj will be lead Bahrain Victorious sports director for both the Tour of the Alps and the Giro.
“We will have Antonio as our number one; he is the clear leader,” said Stangelj. “This race will be like a ‘dress rehearsal’ for the Giro d’Italia, in terms of the riders’ roles.
So Antonio is the leader, with Damiano as his shadow, and of course as road captain – one of the best there is with that responsibility. “Last year, we finished on the podium, and we want to be there again. It would be evidence that we are on the right track ahead of the Giro, and give us confidence looking forward.”
The challenging terrain starts from the opening stage – a loop of 148km starting and finishing in the Unesco World Biodiversity heritage site of San Lorenzo Dorsino. Along the way, the riders will face the first category Campo Carlo Magno (14.4km at 6.2 per cent) before the Passo del Durone (6.3km at 8.0 per cent) and a short but explosive uphill finish.
Tomorrow begins with 18km of flat road from Mezzolombardo in Trentino, before the category one Petersberg/Monte San Pietro (19.1km at 6.1 per cent). At first glance, the parcours appears less testing than other days, but in fact there are more uphill metres in the 178km than on any other stage (4,337m). Before the flat finish is a local circuit in which the bunch twice go over the Obertelfes/Telves di Sopra, which will drastically reduce the group of potential victors in Sterzing.
With so much ascending on the cards, mountain support for Tiberi is going to be crucial. As well as Caruso, there will be a dynamic duo of young talent to help the 23-year-old.
“The always-smiling Afonso [Eulalio] will be mountain support and will also have some other jobs too,” said Stangelj. “He is learning fast, getting better all the time, but there is still much to improve so this is another race to form part of the learning process for him. He is very happy to be here supporting the team and Antonio.”Also with us is Kasper Borremans from the Bahrain Victorious Development Team. He will be very motivated to be in the race, and is a climber, so we will use him a lot. He is with the team for the future so being here will help his development as a rider, and the Tour of the Alps is a great first race to start your professional career.”
Following a tough opening two days, stage three provides little respite, although there are only two categorised climbs on the 145.5km between Sterzing and Innichen, with the last coming 10km from the finish line.
Unusually, the profile does feature some flatter sections, on which the team will have to be on their guard and position Tiberi safely. That task will be taken on by two 22-year-olds in Croatian Fran Miholjevic and Briton Finlay Pickering, who is returning to the race in which he had a very serious crash last year. The hardest stage of the week is expected to be the fourth. On leaving the Austrian town of Sillian, the ascending starts immediately, to Lago di Misurnia, which peaks at 1,755m.
There are then several steep climbs on the way to the finish in Obertilliach, the last of which (Kartitscher Sattel) crests with just seven of the 162km remaining. The conclusion of the ‘Queen Stage’ is a series of ramps (4.6km at 8.4 per cent and 7.6km at 5.9 per cent) and a challenging last kilometre at five per cent.
A diļ¬cult week will conclude with a short but extremely demanding loop around Lienz. The climbs within the 112km are not long, but all with double digit gradients, and end 10km from the line with the first category Stronach (3.1km at 12.6 per cent).
This year’s Tour of the Alps once again promises a genuine test of form ahead of the year’s first Grand Tour next month. There will be some big names taking to the start, but Stangelj is looking forward to what is always a hard-fought week of racing.
“There are some good riders on the start-list, we should say that,” Stangelj added. “The list of GC (general classification) contenders is quite strong; probably not quite as strong as it will be at the Giro but still a high level. “This race is always very open, and with some of the smaller teams there looking for opportunities, the bigger teams have a lot of responsibility. We will have to work hard to support Antonio and not take any risks regarding the result. We want to come away with good feelings before the Giro d’Italia, and confirmation that we are on course in our preparations for the Giro.”
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