The 2025 Giro d’Italia resumes with stage five and the sprinters will have more joy as the peloton takes a 151km run from Ceglie Messapica to Matera.
Casper van Uden , but the short, steep category four climb at Montescaglioso could provide a dramatic finale – and the late climbs could even tee up some heroics for a late breakaway, should they surprise the peloton.
The climbs will certainly provide encouragment for pink jersey Mads Pedersen, still eyeing up a hat-trick of wins in this year’s race, while Wout van Aert and Corbin Strong could also contend.
While Tom Pidcock will hope to make a statement in the race, too, follow for all the latest updates, standings and results in the Giro d’Italia below:
Follow all the action with The Independent’s liveblog here:
Giro d’Italia stage 5 LIVE
- Sprinters back in action – but have to contend with difficult uphill finish
- Map and route profile on 151km stage from Ceglie Messapica to Matera
Neutralised rollout12:41 , Flo Clifford
The riders have signed on in Ceglie Messapica and are rolling out for the neutralised start.
What is the Red Bull KM?12:37 , Flo Clifford
Intermediate sprints have had a bit of a rebrand at the Giro this year, with the energy giant Red Bull sponsoring a brand new Red Bull KM.
As well as regular intermediate sprints, which offer points for the ciclamino points classification, there will be a daily Red Bull KM on every road stage (so excluding the time trials on stages two and 10).
The Red Bull KM is the kilometre up to an intermediate sprint point, which awards six, four, and two bonus seconds to the first three riders over the line.
Those bonuses could be crucial in the battle for the overall win and add a little bit of extra intrigue to regular road stages.
Giro d’Italia 2025 stage-by-stage guide: Route maps and profiles for all 21 days12:30 , Flo Clifford
Want to get ahead on the action after stage five? Lawrence Ostlere has put together a handy stage-by-stage guide to this year’s race:
Who is leading the Giro d’Italia? Maglia rosa and general classification standings12:20 , Flo Clifford
Mads Pedersen still leads the general classification after his win on stage three.
But that lead was cut to seven seconds as Primoz Roglic picked up two bonus seconds at the Red Bull kilometre on stage four, the first day on Italian soil.
Pedersen’s teammate Mathias Vacek rounds off the overall podium, 14 seconds back on the Dane, and also leads the best young rider classification.
Pedersen also leads the points classification, although the maglia ciclamino will be worn by the second-placed rider in the standings, Olav Kooij.
Lorenzo Fortunato remains in blue as leader of the king of the mountains classification.
General classification after stage four12:11 , Flo Clifford
1) Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), in 11:44:31
2) Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +7″
3) Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) +14″
4) Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +21″
5) Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +22″
6) Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +25″
7) Max Poole (Team Picnic PostNL)+33″
8) Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) +34″
9) Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) +36″
10) Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +40″
Stage four results12:04 , Flo Clifford
1) Casper van Uden (Picnic PostNL), in 4:02:21
2) Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike)
3) Maikel Zijlaard (Tudor Pro Cycling)
4) Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek)
5) Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
6) Sam Bennett (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale)
7) Paul Magnier (Soudal-QuickStep)
8) Ben Turner (Ineos Grenadiers)
9) Matteo Moschetti (Q36.5)
10) Enrico Zanoncello (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizane), all at same time
*Max Kanter (XDS Astana) was originally fifth, but relegated to 103rd for irregular sprinting.
Stage four recap11:57 , Flo Clifford
Dutch sprinter Casper van Uden claimed his first Grand Tour victory on his debut at a three-week race as he won stage four of the Giro d’Italia.
The first chance for the pure sprinters after a time trial and two punchy days in neighbouring Albania, this was always going to be a fast finale and it was the 23-year-old who came out on top in a chaotic finish in Lecce.
His Picnic PostNL squad came from nowhere inside the final kilometre as the peloton jostled for position, with van Uden launching a long-range sprint from 500m out and holding off the day’s favourite, Olav Kooij, and Maikel Zijlaard for the win.
Van Uden said afterwards, “I didn’t do it alone, we did it with the whole team, all the boys, all the staff back at HQ. They did super good. I didn’t have to take any wind until a bit more than 200 [metres] to go, and I know I have a good long sprint. I just went for it and hoped for the best.
“I know I just need to follow the boys. I’m really really happy to give them something back.”
GC battle today?11:50 , Flo Clifford
Over the last couple of days the GC contenders have largely tried to stay out of trouble, but with one intriguing exception: yesterday’s Red Bull kilometre, which offers bonus seconds, was contested by plenty of the big guns, with Isaac del Toro getting the better of race favourite Primoz Roglic.
And like on stage four the daily Red Bull kilometre – with six, four and two bonus seconds on offer for the first three riders over the line – is at the top of a short climb today, 100km into proceedings at Bernalda.
Expect a similar squabble between the main GC riders for those, if the day’s breakaway – if there is one – doesn’t get them first.
Key moments of today’s stage: final kilometres11:43 , Flo Clifford
Like stage four’s twisting and turning city centre approach into Lecce, there’s another fairly technical finish which could lead to a hair-raising finale as both the GC riders and sprinters jostle to keep position and stay safe at high speeds.
There are two left-hand corners approaching the flamme rouge including a tricky one at the 1.2km to go mark before a wide 300m-long finishing straight.
There were crashes on stage four but fortunately none in the closing stages, with the peloton having already made one passage of the finish line and able to work out where the pinch points were. There’s no such circuit today.
Key moments of today’s stage11:37 , Flo Clifford
Let’s have a look at where the battle for today’s stage will be decided. The steep climb at Montescaglioso, which begins around the 35km to go mark, will be crucial, and it seems like the Lidl-Trek squad of pink jersey Mads Pedersen will adopt their stage one tactic of making life difficult for the pure sprinters by setting a punishing pace on the climb.
From there, there’s more climbing on the menu, so even if the likes of Olav Kooij and Sam Bennett can get back into contention – if they are dropped in the first place – they could still struggle in the closing stages.
The final 3km include a punishing ramp that hits 10% and the final kilometre is a steady drag uphill too, so while the stage is likely to still come down to a bunch sprints of sorts, it may be pretty heavily reduced.
How to watch11:31 , Flo Clifford
Viewers in the UK can watch the Giro d’Italia on TNT Sports and discovery+.
Coverage starts at 12.30pm BST, with the stage set to get underway at 12.55pm BST.
Map and route profile11:26 , Flo Clifford
Here’s a quick look at how today will shape up.
Giro d’Italia Stage 5 preview: Map, standings and route to Matera11:20 , Flo Clifford
The 2025 Giro d’Italia’s sprinter-friendly first week continues with another outing for the fast men on stage five, this time a trim 151km run from Ceglie Messapica to Matera.
Unlike Tuesday’s pan-flat stage four, this one has a sting in the tail in the form of the short, steep category four Montescaglioso climb inside the final 30km.
It’s a leg-sapping ascent that may eliminate some of the pure sprinters and hand the advantage back to the likes of pink jersey Mads Pedersen, who won stages one and three and was fourth yesterday in Lecce, as well as Wout van Aert and Corbin Strong, who have both performed well on the punchier stages so far in this race.
Good morning11:16 , Flo Clifford
Hello and welcome to live coverage of stage five of the Giro d’Italia!
We’ll have all the build-up and action from today’s stage, with another hectic sprint finish on the cards – unless a breakaway can spring a surprise.