Team Polti VisitMalta for the Giro d’Italia: 21 stages, 21 challenges!
Team Polti VisitMalta is ready to back up the trust placed in them by the Giro d’Italia organizers and the public with both attitude and performance. The 108th edition of the corsa rosa will kick off this Friday in Albania and finish in Rome on the first day of next month. In total, it will cover nearly 3500 kilometers and over 52000 meters of elevation gain, spread across 21 stages with three rest Mondays. Right from the start there’s a tempting chance to wear the pink jersey, with hilly routes and ITT on offer, before tackling Italy from south to north in a delicious mix of stages suited to attackers, sprinters and climbers. All leading up to the brutally tough third week, which will climax on the Colle delle Finestre on Saturday the 31st, before the grand finale in the capital.
For Polti VisitMalta, this is the flagship event of the entire calendar — the race everyone works towards and dreams of. In its previous guise, the ProTeam led by Ivan Basso and the Contador brothers secured two victories: on the Zoncolan in its debut participation in 2021 and on the Gran Sasso in 2023. For 2025 the lineup led by Stefano Zanatta, Giovanni Ellena, Jesús Hernández and Orlando Maini is 7/8 identical to last year’s. The only new face is one of the latest signings, a rider who has already ridden the Giro five times: Alessandro Tonelli. Alongside him are the talented GC rider Davide Piganzoli, sprinter Giovanni Lonardi, roster captain Mirco Maestri, breakaway artist Andrea Pietrobon, the selfless (and only non-Italian) Fran Muñoz, and the Bais brothers, Mattia and Davide, known for their long-range attacks and climbing reliability.
Piganzoli: “We’ve prepared well, with strong work both at altitude and in the lead-up races. I’m really excited to be here again — especially since stage 18 starts in my hometown, Morbegno. My goal is to improve on my 13th place overall in 2024, but I also don’t want to wait around too much — I’ll take my chances when they come!”
Maestri: “This will be my eighth Giro (the fourth in a row with this team) but I’m approaching it like my first — with the gritty joy of honoring the corsa rosa. What’s changed, for the better, is my experience, which I put at the service of a solid squad that has what it takes to win at least one stage. At the Tour of the Alps and the Tour of Turkey we showed we’re in good shape, and now more than ever it’s time to believe in ourselves and show what we’re worth on the road.”
Sports Director Stefano Zanatta: “We’re approaching the most important moment of the season with maximum ambition, ready to show our identity and represent our sponsors in the best possible way. The trend is positive — as shown by Piganzoli’s two top-10 finishes at the Tour of the Alps, Lonardi’s results in Turkey, Davide Bais’s second place in Reggio Calabria, Mattia’s frequent attacks and the team unity in every situation. We know we can play a leading role, we’ll tackle all 21 stages as if they were 21 classics.”
