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Primoz Roglic to win the general classification - 11/8 William Hill Tom Pidcock and Juan Ayuso to win a stage - 9/5 Unibet
The Giro d’Italia begins this Friday and there’s plenty of excitement and intrigue surrounding the first Grand Tour event of the year.
2023 champion Primoz Roglic is the early favourite , with British hopeful Tom Pidcock riding for the first time as a senior and young star Juan Ayuso looking to claim a Grand Tour crown for the first time.
And yet despite all that is going on, it could be the riders who aren’t present that help contribute to an interesting Giro, with Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel among the premier racers not taking part this year.
And with three of the so-called ‘Big Four’ absent from the race, the door appears wide open for Roglic to regain the crown he won two years ago.
The Slovenian is the 11/8 favourite on betting sites to win the general classification with Ayuso – usually a UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate of Pogacar – the second favourite at 2/1.
It’s hard to look past Roglic taking home the pink jersey given he’s the only member of the so-called ‘Big Four’ who’ll ride in Italy.
Compatriot Pogacar has dominated the cycling recently – and won the Giro in 2024 – but he will be absent from the Giro in order to prepare for the Tour de France, and both Evenepoel and Vingegaard have joined him in that respect.
While former winners Egan Bernal, Jai Hindley and Richard Carapaz will be riding in the Giro, it’s Roglic who is the clear favourite on betting apps .
The 35-year-old has only competed twice this year, though one of those outings was a convincing win in the Volta a Catalunya in March, where he also beat Giro second-favourite Ayuso.
In addition, the Slovenian is surrounded by a strong team that includes Hindley, Daniel Martinez (the 2024 runner-up) and Jan Tratnik.
All in all, form and favour are looking positively on Roglic, so we’re backing him to win the maglia rosa at odds of 11/8 with William Hill.
Giro d’Italia prediction 1: Primoz Roglic to win the general classification - 11/8 William Hill
Giro d’Italia tips: Youngsters to lay down future Grand Tour markers As mentioned above, Spain’s Ayuso comes into the Giro as second favourite to win the general classification, having finished second to Roglic in the Volta a Catalunya in his home province.
The 22-year-old has already shown signs of a bright future, having won the Tirreno–Adriatico this year as well as the young rider classification at the Vuelta a Espana in 2023.
He said himself that anything other than a top-three finish at the Giro would be disappointing, so he will be expecting to compete across the three-week race, and with that presumably comes expectations regarding stage wins in Italy.
He’s no bigger than 4/7 on cycling betting sites to top the young rider classification, and we’re backing him to cross the line first on at least one occasion in 2025.
And joining Ayuso as one of the rising stars riding in this year’s edition is Tom Pidcock, racing for the first time as a senior after mountain biking success at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
It remains to be seen whether the 25-year-old will aim for a GC win or simply chase stage victories. Betting sites expect at least the latter, making him 8/11 to win a stage.
The Brit said himself that he arrives in good spirits and wants to carry through his good form from the Ardennes classic last month, while he’s also finished runner-up to Pogacar at Strade-Bianche and sixth in the Tirreno-Adriatico.
Pairing up Pidcock and Ayuso to both win at least one of the 21 stages of the Giro returns at 9/5 with Unibet and is an interesting way to back the in-form duo.
Giro d’Italia prediction 2: Tom Pidcock and Juan Ayuso to win a stage - 9/5 Unibet
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