From 80″ to 26″: this is the’evolution of the gap between Isaac del Toro and Simon Yates, respectively first and second in the general classification of the Giro d’Italia 2025, after Tuesday’s stage that took the riders from Piazzola sul Brenta to San Valentino, a hamlet of Brentonico. The Massican showed some difficulties, but he does not want to let go of the symbol of supremacy, the pink jersey.

“It&#8217s been a tough day for everyone, real cycling – said the UAE Team Emirates rider at a press conference -. I didn&#8217t have the best legs of my career but that is no excuse. I did what I could, closing totally drained. I hope tomorrow will be better. I want to show the team how much I care about this pink jersey, which is the fruit of everyone”s work.

“I don&#8220t think it&#8220s a matter of confidence, but of awareness in my means– added Del Toro. In the final we and Visma set a good pace. Simon Yates and Carapaz used the steepest section in their favor. When Richard took off I tried not to leave too much ground, but at that point I didn&#8217t have any more. He’s been stronger than me so I have no regrets”.

One of the day&#8217s disappointments was Juan Ayuso, Del Toro&#8217s teammate and, until yesterday, third in the overall: he lost 12 minutes today. “I spoke with Ayuso this morning and he told me he was not feeling well – explained the Mexican -. Falls do damage, and that is why we tried to manage his bad moment on the penultimate climb. It’s been a bad day for him”.

“Now in the standings we are all close, I don&#8217t think there is a favorite, but I think all the top four in the overall can win” finally said Del Toro, narrowing the field of favorites for the final victory to himself, Yates, Carapaz and McGee, the latter being 31″ and 1’31” respectively away from the first position.

After breaking what had now become a real taboo, Christian Scaroni, the first Italian to win a stage in the 2025 edition of the Giro d’Italia, certainly didn&#8217t hide his excitement, enjoying his success on the one hand but, on the other, holding out to thank his teammate Lorenzo Fortunato, who arrived together with him on parade at the finish line in San Valentino.

“It’s been the best day of my career and to have shared it with a teammate like Lorenzo Fortunato is even more special – told the 27-year-old from the XDS Astana Team -. We started in the rain and in these conditions I am able to give 110 percent, although I still struggle a bit’ to take risks on the descent because of the crashes at the beginning of the year”.

Scaroni then recounted what happened from the moment of the breakaway to the finish: “Our main goal was to consolidate the Maglia Azzurra but things went in our favor as the kilometers went by– he said. Before the final climb we told each other that if we pulled away everyone he would let me have the win. He kept his word and I can only thank him”.

Tuesday’s is Christian Scaroni’s first stage win at the Giro d’Italia, which sees him among the starters for the third time ever, again wearing the Kazakh team’s jersey. This season, prior to the Giro, the Brescia-born cyclist excelled in France, winning the 2025 edition of the Classic Var and winning the Tour of the Maritime Alps, in which he also gave himself a victory in the first stage.

Great victory for Flavio Cobolli in the first round of Roland Garros. The Italian tennis player, world number 26, clearly overcame Croatian Marin Cilic in three sets on his debut in the Paris tournament. Cobolli, fresh from his triumph in Hamburg, prevailed with eloquent 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 scores over his opponent, showing great confidence and condition.

The Subiaco-raised player needed only an hour to 40 minutes of play to get the better of Cilic, who was in great difficulty. Sixth consecutive victory for Cobolli, who smiles unlike Francesco Passaro, who was defeated in the first round by Dutchman Jesper De Jong in five sets. Passaro won the first two partials 6-3, 7-6, but then succumbed to the comeback of De Jong, who won 6-4, 7-6 and 6-1 the next sets qualifying for the second round.

Another Azzurro, Mattia Bellucci, was also out in the first round.

The world number 68 fought tenaciously against the highly-launched Jack Draper, now number 5 in the ATP rankings, and surprised him by winning the first set 6-3. However, the Briton&#8217s comeback was relentless: Draper won 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 the other three partials, winning the match and moving on to the second round.