Tour of the Alps unveils 2025 teams: new contenders aim for the throne

Bringing together talents and champions from around the world, as well as the best of Italian and Austrian cycling. The Tour of the Alps 2025 - which will take place across the Euregio Tirol-Südtirol/Alto Adige-Trentino from 21-25 April - unveiled the first 16 teams for its 48th edition in Innsbruck (Tirol) on Wednesday January 15, 2025.

Despite a busy international calendar in April, the Tour of the Alps maintains its reputation as a race rich in tradition and international appeal, offering the highest technical and competitive standards. This legacy was highlighted at the presentation in Riva del Garda, where the president of the International Cycling Union, David Lappartient, emphasized the importance of the race.

Last November, the Tour of the Alps was one of the first races to unveil its 2025 route, and it happened in front of the world's cycling leaders, confirming its status as a leader in organizational and technical innovation.

With its modern formula of short and vibrant stages, designed to enhance the skills of today's riders and champions, the event provides the fans and the regions with a spectacular international platform. For two hours a day, the beauty and the peculiarities of these territories will be broadcast around the world thanks to international TV production and distribution by Infront Sports & Media.

This year's competition will also put in the spotlight athletes from the two host countries, Italy and Austria. Notable contenders include Antonio Tiberi and Giulio Ciccone, who will be looking to end Italy's 12-year drought since Vincenzo Nibali's triumph at the 2013 Giro del Trentino. Meanwhile, Austria's Felix Gall dreams of becoming the first Austrian winner of the Tour of the Alps, thanks to the final two stages on home roads, in Osttirol.

TOUR OF THE ALPS WELCOMES 8 WORLD TEAMS

Despite many top riders having yet to finalize their season calendar, the Tour of the Alps 2025 can already count on the presence of eight UCI World Tour outfits. The teams list includes Decathlon AG2R-La Mondiale, Bahrain Victorious, RedBull-Bora Hansgrohe, EF Education EasyPost, Team Jayco-AlUla, INEOS Grenadiers, Team Picnic-PostNL and the reigning champions, Lidl-Trek.

Trying for an encore for Lidl-Trek will be 2024 winner Juan Pedro López, and Italian Giulio Ciccone. The latter will find at the Tour of the Alps the kind of challenge and competition to fine-tune his preparation towards Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Giro d'Italia. Bahrain Victorious will once again count on Italian Antonio Tiberi, who finished third in the 2024 Tour of the Alps and fourth in the Giro d'Italia, winning the White Jersey Leader in both events as the best young rider.

Another former Tour of the Alps champion, Frenchman Romain Bardet of Team Picnic-PostNL, will return to the race he won in 2022 with a decisive final stage in Osttirol. This year's edition, with a similar finale in Lienz, will also be one of the last races of Bardet's illustrious career, which will end with the Critérium du Dauphiné in June.

Team Jayco-AlUla will line up a strong team featuring Chris Harper, Alessandro De Marchi - winner of the 2024 stage in Stans - and climbers such as Koen Bouwman and Eddie Dunbar, seventh in the 2023 Giro d'Italia. Meanwhile, Decathlon AG2R-La Mondiale will rally behind Felix Gall, as the Austrian rider looks to make history on his home roads in Lienz. EF Education EasyPost pins its hopes on British rider Hugh Carthy, runner-up in the 2023 Tour of the Alps, and Ecuadorian Jefferson Cepeda, the best young rider in the 2021 #TotA.

Given the high expectations at the Giro d’Italia, where they will field stage race specialists such as Primož Roglič, Jai Hindley and Daniel Martínez, RedBull-Bora Hansgrohe is expected to present a strong and competitive team also in the Euroregion. On the other hand, INEOS Grenadiers has a tradition of rehearsing its Giro d’Italia team and the Tour of the Alps, and this should be a promise of another run of contention for the British outfit.

Adding to the competition are the high-profile Pro teams of Tudor Pro Cycling and Israel Premier Tech, who aim at delivering exciting performances. Tudor's roster includes Julian Alaphilippe, Marc Hirschi, Michael Storer and Matteo Trentin, while Israel Premier Tech - with veterans Chris Froome and Jakob Fuglsang - boasts strong stage race specialists such as Alexey Lutsenko, George Bennett, Jan Hirt and Italian Marco Frigo: both teams are expected to be competitive in Tirol, Südtirol/Alto Adige and Trentino.

The Italian contingent includes VF-Group-Bardiani CSF Faizané, Team Polti VisitMalta, led by talented Italian Davide Piganzoli, and Team Solution Tech-Vini Fantini. In addition, there will be another ride in the Euroregion for the Mitsubishi Motors Team Ukyo, managed by former Formula 1 rider Ukyo Katayama, and led by experienced GM Alberto Volpi. The Austrian national team, showcasing some of the brightest prospects of an ever-growing cycling movement, as well as Austrian Continental Team Vorarlberg, round up the provisional team list of 2025 Tour of the Alps.

THE OSSTIROL SHOWDOWN: SILLIAN, OBERTILLIACH AND LIENZ

Tirol, and Osttirol in particular, will be the setting for the last two, decisive stages of the 2024 Tour of the Alps.

After crossing the territories of Trentino and Südtirol/Alto Adige, Tour of the Alps' stage 4 departs from Sillian for 160 challenging kilometers to Obertilliach. The route immediately returns to Italy, climbing to Lake Misurina before tackling the demanding Passo Sant'Antonio and the steadier Kreuzbergpass/Monte Croce Comelico. After passing through Sexten/Sesto Pusteria - hometown to tennis star Jannik Sinner - and Innichen/San Candido, the race returns to Tirol for a testing finale.

Three climbs in quick sequence - the Anras Oberried KOM, Tessenberg ascent, and Kartitscher Sattel KOM, the latter featuring particularly steep middle sections - will shape the stage outcome. After these climbs, there will be just 7 kilometers to go, mostly on a downhill, before the final summit towards Obertilliach, where the road kicks up again at 4-5% after passing the well-known Biathlon center.

The Tour of the Alps ends with a compact but potentially decisive 113-kilometer stage in Lienz, echoing the 2022 edition's dramatic finale. After 37 kilometers of flat racing, riders will face an unprecedented side of the Bannberg: 4.5 kilometers averaging 10% over 15 hairpins. A rolling section brings the peloton to a second ascent on the Bannberg.

The descent leads to the valley floor and to the day's final challenge: the Stronach climb, which proved decisive in 2022. Three kilometers of narrow roads at 13% average could once again determine the overall winner. From the summit, 10 kilometers remain to the finish in Lienz's Hauptplatz, where the 2025 champion will be crowned.

TOUR OF THE ALPS TEAMS’ LIST

UCI World Teams

• Bahrain – Victorious (Bahrain)
• Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale (France)
• EF Education – EasyPost (United States)
• INEOS Grenadiers (Great Britain)
• Lidl-Trek (United States)
• RedBull-BORA-Hansgrohe (Germany)
• Team Jayco AlUla (Australia)
• Team Picnic PostNL (Netherlands)

UCI Pro Teams

• Israel – Premier Tech (Israel)
• Team Polti VisitMalta (Italy)
• Team Solution Tech – Vini Fantini (I Italy)
• Tudor Pro Cycling Team (Switzerland)
• VF Group - Bardiani CSF – Faizanè (Italy)

Continental Teams

• Mitsubishi Motors Team UKYO (Japan)
• Team Vorarlberg (Austria)

National Teams

• Austria