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Giro d’Italia: Three days in Albania

The Grande Partenza of the Giro d’Italia in Albania was without incidents for the Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team despite livestock and dogs on the course.

The team of Tom Pidcock, Xabier Mikel Azparren, Milan Vader, Mark Donovan, Damien Howson, Nick Zukowsky, Emīls Liepiņš and Matteo Moschetti now travels to Italy where the Giro d’Italia continues on Tuesday with a flat stage to Lecce.

12 May 2025

On this rest day it’s time to look back at the first three stages. Day one of a Grand Tour is always a hectic stage so the aim was to keep Tom and Matteo safe. Matteo couldn’t follow the pace on the last climb before the finish line but Tom Pidcock sprinted to fifth place on the opening day. “It was a hard stage, but I’m happy to make it through with a good mindset and result,” he said on Friday.

Saturday offered a time trial in the city center of Tirana, the capital of the country. With many corners it was one for the specialists. Xabier Mikel Azparren was our best finisher in 24th place, reaching an average speed of nearly 50 kilometers an hour over 13,7 kilometers.

“My time trial was not bad,” Xabier Mikel commented. “I took it easy the first half. It was tricky because the tarmac was new and kind of slippery. I didn’t want to take risks. I went full in the second half and I felt good. The vibes in the team are good and we are ready for the next stages. I really enjoyed the stages in Albania. It’s always nice to see new places and this is a nice place.”

On day three the riders faced a mountain stage with almost 3000 meters of elevation. The expectations were that a breakaway might get the green light early on in the Giro so we had several riders ready to attack. In the end Mark Donovan and five others got the all clear. It was however clear that the peloton wouldn’t let them go all the way because the gap remained small.

Mark was caught at two kilometers from the top of the climb. A bunch kick followed after the long descent into Vlorë where Tom Pidcock was our best finisher.

“It was a tough day out for day three of a Grand Tour,” Donovan reacted. “There is a day off tomorrow and I am happy for that. It was a good day for a breakaway, to stretch the legs and give it a go but they didn’t give us much room. Lidl-Trek controlled that pretty well so nothing we could do about that. It was a good day out though and good for the confidence for next week.”