The term queen stage usually applies to the toughest stage in a tour. But in the Giro d'Italia 2025, that's truly the designation for the penultimate stage. Although less difficult than the previous nineteenth stage, it's mythical thanks to two famous climbs from the past. The small village of Verrès in the Aosta Valley serves as the starting point for this stage. The attraction of Verrès is the medieval castle found there. Despite its relatively modest fame, the local polenta, soups, pumpkins and cheeses do enjoy some recognition. Additionally, the mountainous surroundings of Verrès are home to various vineyards.

The finish location Sestrière needs little explanation. Quite strange, actually, since with 850 inhabitants, it has less than half the population of Verrès. The village is not even a hundred years old. In 1930, Giovanni Agnelli - one of the founders of the Fiat automobile brand - had two hotels built in the form of towers. Simultaneously, ski lifts were constructed and Sestrière grew into a winter sports resort on the border of Italy with France. In 1997, the alpine skiing world championships were held there, and in 2006, many of the ski medals at the Olympic Winter Games in nearby Turin (a hundred kilometers away) were won here.

Sestrière - named after the mountain Colle de Sestrière - also has a rich history in cycling. As early as 1952, a mountain stage in the Tour de France finished there, won by the Italian cycling god Fausto Coppi. It then took forty years before the Tour returned, and again an Italian, Claudio Chiappucci, won. After that, there were finishes in 1996 and 1999, where Bjarne Riis and Lance Armstrong respectively decided the Tour of that year. In the Giro, there have already been eight finishes in Sestrière, but only since 1991. The last time was in 2020, when Wilco Kelderman lost his pink jersey to Jai Hindley on the penultimate day.

Route Such a scenario is also quite possible this year. The stage features four climbs, with the last three located in the second half of the stage. The Corio (6.5 kilometers at 3.7%) and Colle del Lys (13.7 kilometers at 4.2%) are mere child's play compared to the last two mountains of the day. Especially that penultimate climb instills fear. The last eight kilometers of the Colle delle Finestre (18.4 kilometers at 9.2%!) are unpaved AND extremely steep. To the eye, it's a breathtaking climb with magnificent views, but the riders will care nothing about that. They'll feel the Finestre in their legs, which will be screaming in hellish pain.

Many forts and defensive works characterize the Finestre, whose northern side thus ends with the unpaved gravel road. The climb has only been in the Giro four times before. During its first appearance, we saw a mighty duel between pink jersey wearer Paolo Savoldelli, stage winner Danilo Di Luca, and the winged Venezuelan climber José Rujano. And the last time in 2018, this was the climb where the already defeated Chris Froome rode away and after an eighty-kilometer solo still began the final stage in pink. Last year, the Finestre was still in the Tour de l'Avenir for men and women (won by Pablo Torres and Marion Bunel). In this Giro, it's the Cima Coppi, the highest mountain top. This is followed by a twelve-kilometer descent and the final climb of sixteen kilometers (3.8% average gradient) to Sestrière. There we'll know who wins the 2025 Giro.

31 May 2025	Giro d'Italia - Stage 20
18 Jul 2024	Giro Ciclistico della Valle d'Aosta - Mont Blanc - Stage 2
11 Jun 2024	Giro d'Italia Next Gen - Stage 3
5 Jul 2000	Giro d Italia Internazionale Femminile - Stage 9
1 Jun 1997	Giro d'Italia - Stage 15

Verrès(Aosta)