Giro d’Italia 2025 LIVE: Stage 5 updates, route and results today

It’s another beautiful day in Italy and the crowds are out in force.

On TNT Sports, the commentators note that the usual 3km rule on sprint stages – where any rider involved in an incident in the final 3km is awarded the same time as the group they were in at the time – is not in operation today.

So this could be an even more nervy finish than normal as the GC teams get in on the action to protect their leaders.

An extremely relaxed Primoz Roglic had a laugh with the interviewer before the stage.

Asked about whether today’s punchy finish suits him too he’s characteristically circumspect: “We will see, when you have the legs there is opportunity.”

He’s then asked if he’s bothered about taking back the pink jersey, and whether all the attendant duties – press conferences, interviews, etc. – are putting him off. “Sweet worries, I like journalists, I like press conferences, so I will do it,” he jokes.

Yesterday he took two seconds back off Pedersen’s lead at the Red Bull KM and the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe rider says, “I have to do it because of the sponsor, no?! When you’re capable of taking some seconds it’s better to take, because then maybe you can lose 20 minutes.

“I’m enjoying everything,” he concludes about his time at the race so far.

Our Italian trio have 2:40 on the bunch and that seems to be that.

As the camera pans to yesterday’s stage winner Casper van Uden, it feels a good time to note that stage four saw a first-ever Dutch podium sweep at the Giro, as Olav Kooij and Maikel Zijlaard rounded out the top three.

In the bunch, who are rolling along and look very relaxed, Mads Pedersen has a chat with Max Kanter, the XDS-Astana rider who was relegated and slapped with a yellow card for his sprint yesterday.

His team protested the punishment as unduly harsh. Sean Kelly, on TNT Sports comms, agrees.

Replays of the sprint show Kanter shoulder-barging into a Tudor rider, although it’s hard to tell if his momentum just carries him too far into him. Either way the Tudor rider is very unimpressed and gives him a shove back.

Three Italians make up the break so far: Giosue Epis (Arkéa – B&B Hotels) and Davide Bais (Polti VisitMalta), the latter a former Giro stage winner from a breakaway.

Lorenzo Milesi (Movistar) has a think about joining them, drops back, before redoubling his efforts, possibly after having a quick chat with his team radio. He joins back on and that seems to be the break for now.

You’d think, given it’s a shorter stage and there’s a tricky finale that’s by no means a given for the sprinters, that there would have been a bit more of a fight to get up the road.

After 8.2km of neutralised start, the race director waves his flag and the racing begins!

Movistar, Arkea-B&B and Polti-VisitMalta fancy getting in the day’s break.

Good news for British viewers as a smiling Tom Pidcock has confirmed in his pre-race TV interview that he’s targeting today’s stage. The punchy uphill finish certainly suits him.

“For sure [motivated for the stage win]! It’s certainly an opportunity today, but we’ll have to see. [Lidl]-Trek are a team that have got a lot of momentum, I expect that they’ll want to try today, Mads obviously has got great shape.

“I think we’ll have to see how it plays out, also how many of the teams want to go for the breakaway.”

He also jokes that Mads Pedersen owes him a favour after Pidcock lent him some glasses when his didn’t arrive in time. “It’s not a big favour but I’ll pull that one if I need to!”

Lidl-Trek bounced back from a slightly disappointing stage four – Mads Pedersen described it as “damage control” after the race – by announcing that the 29-year-old will remain with the American squad for the rest of his career.

These lifetime contracts are becoming more fashionable, with Visma-Lease a Bike paving the way, keeping Wout van Aert and the great Marianne Vos with the team until the end of their careers.

“I always felt super-welcome and supported by everyone here. Every time my contract was up for renewal, it was easy to make the decision to stay,” Pedersen said after his own announcement.

The riders have signed on in Ceglie Messapica and are rolling out for the neutralised start.

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.