Welcome to the #Veronablog

Stage 6 – 15th May

Good afternoon, everyone, on another long evening transfer to our hotel in this Giro.

Today we tackled the longest stage of this #Giro108, and also the most chaotic, with a massive crash 70 km from the finish line that involved at least fifty riders, including our teammate Mads Pedersen.

We all knew that the combination of Naples + rain was very risky, as in this part of Italy, when the asphalt gets wet, it has zero grip. And that’s exactly what happened in the last descent of the day. When several teams started fighting for position, one of the lead riders braked just a bit too much, triggering a domino effect with riders down everywhere.

For our part, Mads was the only one who couldn’t avoid the crash. Luckily, we were all riding in the back of the pack, where you can still crash, but at least you have more room to maneuver, as the key in these situations is not to brake. I did a little, and immediately felt my rear wheel skid. So, I let the bike go, braked as gently as possible, and searched for a gap to pass through the fallen riders and bikes. Fortunately, none were directly in my path, and we all made it through except for Mads, who couldn’t avoid crashing and took a hard hit on his right side.

At first glance, it seems he’s okay, but crashing is never a good thing. After a few neutralized kilometers, the decision was made to resume racing, but with neutralized times. Some people don’t understand this decision, but as a rider representative in the CPA, I believe it was the right call, and one that had consensus among all the teams/riders that Van Baarle, Cataneo, and I spoke with.

Ultimately, when you take away the pressure on teams not to ruin their GC chances due to a silly crash and leave the sprinters to do their job while letting them choose their own risk level, it’s much safer for them and for those of us aiming to protect a good GC position. From here, I’d like to thank the Giro organization for their quick and effective decision and congratulate Kaden Groves, who delivered Alpecin’s first win in this Giro d’Italia.

For us, with Mads banged up, we opted for a conservative position and chose not to take any more risks.

That said, if you missed the first 30 km of the stage, I recommend watching it — it was pure spectacle, with a six-rider breakaway that was finally caught after a counterattack by Ineos and Vacek, which forced Visma to work hard to bring them back.

The rest of the day was “calm” for us, saving energy for the coming days and pulling out the rain jackets for most of the route — until what I just described happened.

Tomorrow, we have the first summit finish of the Giro. I’ll be here in the #veronablog to tell you all about it!

Stage 5 – 14th May

Good afternoon, everyone!

Today we raced the fifth stage of this #Giro108 and claimed the third victory for Lidl-Trek, thanks to the Maglia Rosa; Mads Pedersen, who once again finished off another great day of teamwork.

First up was Mosca, who had to control a three-rider breakaway all on his own. Then, in the final 50 km, the battle for position began. On the two climbs within the last 30 km, it was my turn to be at the front, keeping the group in position until the final 10 km when my legs said enough. After that, Patrick and Daan took over, and the last 3 km you probably saw better than I did on TV. Vacek delivered another perfect lead-out, and Mads made all the team’s work count on the very day his contract renewal was announced, meaning he’ll finish his career with Lidl Trek!

For me, it was another day of good legs and satisfaction in contributing to another beautiful team win. Honestly, you’ve got to enjoy moments like these because in 16 Grand Tours, I’ve never experienced anything quite like this, so I’m enjoying it as much as possible. That said, we’re definitely going to miss our teammate Søren, who broke his wrist in yesterday’s crash and couldn’t start today’s stage. It’s a tough blow for the team and for him, but we dedicate this win to him!

Cheers to everyone, and see you in tomorrow’s #veronablog from Naples!

Stage 4 – 13th May

Today, we tackled the first stage on Italian soil after yesterday’s rest/travel day, moving from Albania to southern Italy. On paper, the stage itself was “easy,” with nearly 190 km of completely flat terrain, setting up the first pure sprint of this Giro d’Italia. The final circuit was a semi-urban 12 km loop that we completed twice, and it was absolute chaos. Partly because the peloton spent most of the day riding “calmly,” with only Muñoz (Polti) in the breakaway — no real threat to the group — and partly because there are still a lot of nerves and fresh legs in the bunch.

Amid the chaos, there weren’t too many crashes, but one of the worst involved us, with Søren finishing dead last and complaining a lot about his hand. He stayed at the finish line for medical checks, but honestly, it didn’t look good. We also had a mechanical issue with Ciccone that we had to resolve urgently within the last 15 km. Additionally, midway through the stage, there was a minor crash that slightly involved a few of our riders, though only Ciccone made light contact with the ground. No major consequences, but a good reminder to stay alert at all times.

The day wrapped up with a sprint finish, where Van Uden (Picnic) showed his impressive top speed, and Mads managed a commendable fourth place, despite being caught up behind Soren’s crash. As you can see, it was a pretty eventful day for us, but we managed to pick up some valuable points for the Ciclamino jersey in the intermediate sprints and the final sprint. Now, all we can do is hope Søren’s injury isn’t too serious.

Greetings to everyone, and see you in tomorrow’s #veronablog!

Stage 3 – 11th May

Original text in Spanish available here

What a day! From the team to the leader, who after losing the pink jersey by one second, infected us all with his ambition to recover it today in the best way possible. That was with a stage win from a reduced bunch, after another great day of teamwork, just like we did on the opening day.

Today we knew that it would be a much more difficult day to control due to the profile, with almost 3000 meters of climbing, and a second category climb (10km @7.5%) arriving 38km from the finish. It was a good incentive for the brave and adventurous riders who had lost time in the GC, but our plan was clear. All of us went to the front to make sure the break had as few members as possible.

With the objective achieved to perfection – only six riders in the break – Mosca was amazing, pulling for almost 100km together with Mosón (Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe) and keeping the advantage of the break always below three minutes. Afterwards, the approach to the climb was very complicated and it started a drag race between the GC teams, and then on the climb Patrick Konrad and I returned to take the reins of the peloton, riding at a good tempo to avoid attacks and keep Fortunato and Bilbao within check, who had attacked on the climb but never gained more than 45 seconds, which after a fast and technical descent, with some good pulls from Konrad and myself, we were able to neutralize all of the day’s attackers inside the final 20km. After, Cicco and Vacek did the perfect leadout for Mads and he was able to win the final sprint form a reduced group where there were few sprinters.

Consequently, today was once again a ‘tappa e maglia’ (stage and jersey) day, and above all a day of teamwork. For me it was a really beautiful day, which gives sense to all the sacrifices made since the start of the season to be at 100% here. Happy for this feeling, and happy to see that I continue to improve at my 32 years of age, and above all happy to be able to experience moments like this.

Tomorrow is a rest day to travel from Albania to Italy, and on Tuesday #Veronablog will be back where I will explain how it feels to have a pink day on Italian soil.

Andiamo Lidl-Trek!

Stage 2 – 10th May

(Original text in Spanish available here on Carlos’ Strava)

Good evening everyone!

Today we contested the second stage of the #Giro108 with a 13.7km individual time trial through the streets of Tirana, the capital of Albania. On a technical route, but on wide streets, in which the biggest danger was the state of the asphalt which was not always the best. Even so, unlike yesterday, there were no big scares for the favorites and we were able to see Tarling (Ineos) taking the victory over Roglič by just a second, whilst the Slovenian took the pink jersey by the same margin to our teammate Pedersen, who finished seventh after a great collective performance with Daan in sixth and Vacek fifth, who moves up to third in the GC and leads the young rider classification.

As you can see, a day of small differences for the favorites, and the pink jersey is within reach with time bonuses tomorrow, before the first rest day in Italy on Monday.

Today, after the time trial we had a long transfer (2.5 hours by car) towards the south of the country, where tomorrow we will undertake the third and last stage in Albania, with a long second category climb coming 40 kilometers from the finish. Depending on how it’s climbed, it could give options to the breakaway, to riders who want to surprise from far, or in another sprint, which given the condition of Vacek and Mads, could happen.

For me, it was a quiet day at the office, arriving in the last ten riders. You have to manage your efforts well and with this amazing team there will be work to do every day – except the time trial!

Greetings to all!

Stage 1 – 9th May

The #Veronablog is back (original text in Spanish on Strava), after a month and a half without racing since La Volta a Catalunya, and I can’t think of a better way to return to the blog than to tell you that the 2025 Giro d’Italia started today in Albania with ‘tappa e maglia’ for Lidl-Trek after a spectacular team performance.

It’s wrong for me to say, but the truth is that it was a pleasure to experience the stage from within, despite the stress and suffering. But when you have two leaders like Mads and Cicco, and six teammates committed to them 100%, we could achieve this. Each one of us gave their best of themselves to achieve the goal, which today was arriving to the sprint with the peloton as reduced as possible. We got to work one by one to control the race and make the selection as much as possible by the top of the final climb of the day – situated 12km from the finish line.

After a brutal approach, first by Ciccone, and then Vacek, less than 30 riders arrived to the final sprint, and there Mads had no rival, beating Van Aert and Orluis.

We couldn’t dream of starting the Giro in a better way, and personally I can enjoy being in one of the best teams in the world, in the best moment of my sporting career. I couldn’t have prepared for this Giro any better, with a two-week long training camp at altitude in Sierra Nevada with the team, followed by another two-week camp in Andorra with my family, which gave me the physical and mental readiness to arrive here very well.

Day by day, save for these first days which are always complicated; a hug for Landa who had to abandon yesterday due to an ugly crash in the final descent, and a thought above to Wouter Weylandt who passed away on this day 14 years ago, on the third stage of the Giro in 2011. He was a member of this team, then known as Leopard Trek. Sempre con noi WW108!

And that’s it for the #veronablog today, on a special day for us, with the best tribute and ending possible.

Carlos Verona

– I invite you to follow me on Strava to keep up with our Giro