Pogacar’s absence from Giro d’Italia may offer breath of fresh air for competition
The 2025 Giro d’Italia may lack the star power of the Tour de France, but it is likely to make up for it with dynamic and unpredictable racing when it gets under way in Tirana on Friday.Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel, the top three riders in last year’s Tour de France, are not racing, but the Giro will, as ever, throw up plentiful drama.Even so, this year’s lineup has been characterised by some as a cast of Pogacar-avoidant wannabes, nearly men and fading champions who have travelled to Albania for the Grande Partenza.That’s a little unfair on a quality field that includes past Giro winners in Primoz Roglic and his Bora Hansgrohe teammate Jai Hindley, the Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz and a resurgent Egan Bernal, the Colombian climber leading Ineos Grenadiers.Yet it only serves to emphasise the dominance of the seemingly unstoppable Pogacar – who rather than defend his title, has opted to focus on July’s Tour de France – that so much of the pre-race chat has been about the Slovenian’s absence.
Even the 2023 Giro champion, Roglic, when asked about his 2025 schedule said: “I will choose the races where Tadej is not,”But total dominance, in any sport, can become predictable,Certainly, given his form, the absence of Pogacar will increase the ambition of many in the peloton,In that sense, the Giro may be a breath of fresh air,With the 35-year-old Roglic starting as favourite, thanks to a Grand Tour record that includes four wins in the Vuelta, this Giro will be volatile and unpredictable, as a plethora of riders see it as their best chance to succeed in a Grand Tour, while Pogacar is active.
Roglic also sees the Giro as a chance to boost his morale, before another July showdown with his compatriot Pogacar.Roglic’s team manager, Rolf Aldag, said this spring: “Do you go into the Tour with uncertainty, facing what seems to be an unbeatable Pogacar? Or do you arrive feeling ready, because you’ve already proven yourself?”For others, such as Tom Pidcock, it’s an opportunity to be grabbed with both hands.The double Olympic champion, having left Ineos Grenadiers last winter for the more modest Q36.5 team, has re-established himself as one of road racing’s hot talents.Even so, he has ruled himself out of overall contention.
“We’re here to pick our moments,” he said of his debut appearance in the Italian race.His team, which qualified as a wildcard based on his early-season form, is largely happy just to be there.But Pidcock will already be eyeing the opening three stages on Albanian soil which include two days of punchy mid-length climbs sandwiching Saturday’s short individual time-trial, looping in and out of Tirana.“Mainly I just want to race, get stuck in every day and enjoy racing the Giro,” Pidcock said.“I think the opportunities will come if I do that.
I have a good relationship with Italy and this is one of the races I’ve wanted to do,”While Roglic will be seeking to stamp his authority on the general classification, particularly in that early test against the clock, a clutch of others will also want to assert themselves,Perhaps the greatest threat comes from Pogacar’s UAE Team Emirates stablemate Juan Ayuso,The Spaniard has never seemed entirely happy to race in Pogacar’s shadow and revealed that he had hoped to lead his team in last year’s Giro, a race that his team leader won by almost 10 minutes,Sign up to The RecapThe best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend’s actionafter newsletter promotionThe 22-year-old does not lack in ambition and has already said: “It would be a disappointment not to finish in the top three, because I would consider that a step backwards.
”Wout van Aert has been sick in recent days and ruled himself out of contending for the leader’s maglia rosa.“My preparation was not ideal,” he admitted, “but we will see day by day, without big expectations.”Van Aert’s teammate Simon Yates may be one of those able to threaten what on paper looks likely to be a Roglic-Ayuso duel.The pair have already gone head to head this season, in March’s Volta a Catalunya, with Roglic snatching overall victory on the final day.Bernal, who won the Tour de France and Giro before his career was threatened by a horrific high-speed training crash in 2022, remains unsure if he can ever attain his past levels of performance.
“I don’t know,” the Ineos Grenadiers leader said, “but at least I’m still preparing myself for that.Every morning I get up, try to do my best.“I’m still believing, battling every day.I enjoy cycling more now than when I was winning, so we will see.”
Disability benefit cuts impossible to support, 42 Labour MPs tell Starmer
More than 40 Labour MPs have warned the prime minister that planned disability cuts are “impossible to support” and have called for a pause and change in direction.The letter from parliamentarians spanning the new intake and veterans, and from the left and right of the party, sets Keir Starmer up for the biggest rebellion of his premiership when the House of Commons votes on the measures next month.There has already been widespread concern among Labour MPs about proposed changes including a significant tightening of eligibility for personal independent payments (Pips), saving about £5bn annually.They would also involve cuts or freezes to incapacity benefits for people who apply for universal credit but are judged unfit to work. According to internal Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) forecasts, the planned disability benefit cuts would affect 700,000 families who are already in poverty
New UK-US trade deal is a relief for Starmer but doubts, and tariffs, remain
Thursday’s trade agreement between the US and the UK fell far short of the superlatives heaped on it in Donald Trump’s excruciating televised phone call with Keir Starmer. But it is worth having, nevertheless.As Starmer made clear by appearing in front of an audience of Jaguar Land Rover workers in Solihull, reducing the 27.5% tariff on 100,000 car exports will come as a mighty relief for that industry.Steel and aluminium tariffs will also go completely, according to the UK side – though the fact sheet from the White House stopped short of saying that explicitly, instead saying a “new trading union” would be created in these two sectors
UK politics: Tariffs cut on UK cars, steel and aluminium in US trade deal, says Starmer – as it happened
Keir Starmer is at a Jaguar Land Rover factory. Summing up the deal, he says:This is a deal that will protect British businesses and save thousands of jobs In Britain, really important, skilled, well paid jobs. It will remove tariffs on British steel and aluminium, reducing them to zero. It will provide vital assurances for our life sciences sector, so important to our economy, and grant unprecedented market access for British farmers without compromising our high standards.And he says the deal means US tariffs on cars from the UK will be cut from 27
Cars, steel, beef and films: the key points of the US-UK trade deal
The UK and US have announced a new trade deal, or at least some elements of it, following a slightly chaotic transatlantic speaker phone call between Keir Starmer and Donald Trump.So what does it involve – and what was left out? Here is what we know and don’t know.With Starmer heading to the Jaguar Land Rover plant in the Midlands to herald the announcement, this was expected to be a major part of the deal, and it is.Tariffs for UK cars imported into the US will be cut from 27.5% to 10%, up to a maximum of 100,000 cars a year, close to total exports last year
Reform’s success shows how little Labour has offered voters | Letters
Polly Toynbee is right that there will be far worse to come for Labour if it carries on down its road of making the poorest yet poorer (The lesson for Labour? Until it can improve local lives and stop fearing Farage, more losses are coming, 6 May). She says: “They will be challenged by Reform UK in towns such as Barnsley.” Barnsley is the 38th most deprived local authority in England. Almost a quarter of its children live in poverty. Reform is a party with no poverty-alleviation policies and a “contract” with voters that states: “All job seekers and those fit to work must find employment within 4 months or accept a job after 2 offers
Tell us: how will Labour’s planned disability welfare cuts affect you?
The Labour government has proposed £4.8bn in cuts to disability welfare payments, with a House of Commons vote expected in June.The move would impact about 3 million households and plans, among other things, to tighten eligibility for personal independence payments (Pip) and change universal credit’s health element – such as halving it for new claimants, freezing it for existing recipients, and consulting on raising the minimum age to 22 from 18.We want to hear from you. How will your household be affected by Labour’s planned cuts to disability welfare payments? How would this impact your situation? What are your views on Labour’s proposals?You can tell us how Labour's proposed welfare cuts might affect you by filling in the form below
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