The peloton will tackle a moderately hilly course as they embark on a 172km stage 12 from Modena to Viadana (Oglio-Po) on Thursday that is expected to be one for the sprinters.
The stage takes place on May 22, 2025 with live coverage from 13:25-17:15 CET, 12:25 - 16:15 BST or 07:25 - 11:15 EDT.
While stage 12 might not shake up the general classification in the same way as a high mountain stage or a time trial, it is still a challenging route and one that could see a breakaway on the early climbs on course, but many of the teams with powerful sprinters will want to hold the field together for a group sprint at Oglio-Po.
There are only two categorised climbs along the course, starting with the Baiso at the 40km mark. The ascent is 4.8km at an average gradient of just over 6%, and a perfect place for a determined breakaway to gain time on the peloton.
The race then continues on a gradual, lumpy incline toward the first intermediate sprint in Felina, followed by a descent into the second categorised climb, Borsea, a 3.9km climb with an average gradient of 5.5%.
The peloton then descends and follows a pan-flat final 60km, which includes a second intermediate sprint in Sant'Ilario d'Enza and a time bonus sprint in Brescello, before reaching Viadana (Oglio-Po), where the sprinters could shine.
Points leader Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) will be looking for a fourth stage win, Visma-Lease a Bike will be looking for a sprint win with Olav Kooij, and look out for other strong sprinters Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Casper van Uden (Picnic PostNL), Sam Bennett (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Orluis Aular (Movistar), Maikel Zijlaard (Tudor), and Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech).
Kirsten Frattini is the Deputy Editor of Cyclingnews, overseeing the global racing content plan.
Kirsten has a background in Kinesiology and Health Science. She has been involved in cycling from the community and grassroots level to professional cycling's biggest races, reporting on the WorldTour, Spring Classics, Tours de France, World Championships and Olympic Games.
She began her sports journalism career with Cyclingnews as a North American Correspondent in 2006. In 2018, Kirsten became Women's Editor – overseeing the content strategy, race coverage and growth of women's professional cycling – before becoming Deputy Editor in 2023.
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