Key Takeaways: 2025 Giro d'Italia Stage 14

Breaking down how yet another routine-on-paper was turned on its head to create additional GC gaps and an unexpected winner

On what was supposed to be a routine Giro d’Italia transition stage through the vine-covered hills of Friuli and into the Slovenian border town of Nova Gorica, EF’s Kasper Asgreen ripped up the script by producing a vintage against-all-odds stage win from what appeared to be a hopeless early breakaway, while race leader Isaac del Toro continued to build on his General Classification lead after finding himself in front of yet another crash-induced split on the wet and technical finishing circuit.

After a thrilling series of groups pursuing one another through the streets of Nova Gorica, Asgreen found himself a worthy winner of the stage, while UAE’s Del Toro extended his lead a further 48 seconds over his chief rival, and teammate Juan Ayuso, along with pre-race favorite Primož Roglič, who once again found himself on the wrong end of a split. However, with the race taking an abrupt turn into the mountains starting with tomorrow’s Stage 15, the caught-out riders will have plenty of chances to turn around their misfortune due to terrain better suited to their strengths, while the climbing ability of the 21-year-old Del Toro will be tested to the maximum degree.

Check out exactly how it happened and three key takeaways below:

Stage Top Five:
1) Kasper Asgreen (EF Education-EasyPost) +0
2) Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) +16
3) Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike) +16
4) Orluis Aular (Movistar) +16
5) Stefano Oldani (Cofidis) +16

GC Top Ten Time Won/Lost on Stage
Del Toro +0
S. Yates +0
Carapaz +0
Gee +0
Caruso +0
Ayuso -48
Roglič -48
Bernal -48
Arensman -48
Tiberi -1:44

GC Top Ten:
1) Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +0
2) Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike) +1:20
3) Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +1:26
4) Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) +2:07
5) Primož Roglič (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +2:23
6) Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech) +2:54
7) Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Victorious) +2:55
8) Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) +3:02
9) Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers) +3:38
10) Thymen Arensman (INEOS Grenadiers) +3:45

Stage 14 Race Notebook

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173.4km-to-go: After a super breakaway gets clear and pulled back, during an extremely fast start of the stage, Kasper Asgreen, who was in the original move, keeps pressing on just as they are caught, which creates a slight gap.

171km: Asgreen, looking like a motorbike on the front, just continues pressing until the peloton gives up and he quickly pulls out a minute with a handful of other riders attempting to hold his wheel.

36.8km-30.1km: The sprinter’s teams clearly don’t like the idea of Asgreen being up the road, and hold the gap incredibly tight all day due to it. By the time they crest a climb and descend down into Slovenia (on wet roads), the gap is down to just 44-seconds.

23km: When the peloton heads into the town of Nova Gorica and hits wet cobblestones, there is a crash right at the front of the group. Most of the GC contenders go down (except Ayuso, who appears to be further back), but some, like Richard Carapaz and Isaac del Toro, get up and back on their bikes right away, while Primož Roglič and Egan Bernal land in less optimal positions and it takes them longer to get going.

20.2km: Visma, who gets through the crash unscathed, keeps Wout van Aert on the front due to the fact that the gap to Asgreen is now close to a minute, and they are hoping to contest the victory with Olav Kooij (extending Simon Yates’ GC lead is also a likely motivation).

13.4km: As Visma’s Wout van Aert remains on the front of the incredibly reduced peloton, the gap to the three-rider lead group is down to 18 seconds.

7.1km: Behind, Roglič’s Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe teammates do all they can to close the gap to the Del Toro group, which is now at 37 seconds (interestingly, the gap to the leaders is now up to 20 seconds). Notably, Ayuso’s UAE teammates in this group aren’t chasing, signaling they are happy to let Del Toro extend his lead over Ayuso. It is worth noting that Roglič is sitting in the group here, but it could be wiser for him to lend a helping hand to the chase, considering he is one of the strongest riders in the group, and it is critical to limit these time losses.

3.6km: Up front, Asgreen rides away from his two remaining breakaway companions on a downhill section, while Simon Yates has taken over on the front after Van Aert has pulled off. The gap is down to 13 seconds, but with Isaac del Toro sitting on at the back, and Asgreen’s EF teammates disrupting the chase, it is hard to imagine this group catching Asgreen with limited pacesetting resources.

1.6km: Going into the final 2kms, the gap has actually increased by two seconds, while EF’s Mikkel Frølich Honoré continues to sit second wheel to keep the group from rotating through, which slows down the pursuit of his teammate up front.

Finish: Asgreen crosses the finish line 16 seconds ahead of the chasing peloton to take an impressive and unlikely stage win.

GC Finish: The group of Roglič, Ayuso, Bernal finishes 48 seconds later, while Antonio Tiberi finishes 1’44 back. Lidl-Trek’s Giulio Ciccone, 7th overall before the stage, finishes, but is forced to drop out of the race due to injuries from the crash.

Three Key Takeaways