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Gallery: The mind-blowing stage that decided the Giro d'Italia

Gallery: The mind-blowing stage that decided the Giro d'Italia

One of the most memorable days of Grand Tour racing in recent memory, as captured by our photographers.

What a Giro d'Italia we've just witnessed. A long stint for Isaac del Toro in the maglia rosa. A GC battle poised until the very last weekend. And an epic conclusion to that GC battle on the mighty Colle delle Finestre, in all its gravel-strewn glory.

Of course, you can read all about the Giro here at Escape. Follow the link below for everything we've written from the 2025 Giro d'Italia, and if you want to read about the final weekend specifically, be sure to check out:

In this story, though, we're focusing on Saturday's incredible stage 20 featuring the Colle delle Finestre, and the way that ended up deciding the race. The photos you see below come from Kristof Ramon, Chris Auld (shooting for Gruber Images), and Cor Vos.

After a hot and hard stage 19, stage 20 took the riders from Verrès to Sestrière in north-west Italy.
The start of the stage wasn't particularly difficult on paper but it still took around 40 minutes for a mooooove to get away.
Around 30 riders got up the road, with Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) a more-than-notable inclusion.
There was some early climbing – namely the Colle del Lys – but it was the mighty Colle delle Finestre that would form the centrepiece of the Giro's penultimate stage.
Fans made their way up the nearly 20 km climb nice and early ...
... ready to see the stars in action.
With the last 8 km or so of the climb on gravel, the stage had all the ingredients for something very special.

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