Giro d'Italia 2025 LIVE: Stage 8 updates, route and results on ideal day for breakaway
Stage eight sets the tone for the majority of this Giro's mountain stages, with its toughest climb slap bang in the middle of the day.
There's 3,800m of vertical gain in total - more than stage seven, but more spread out, with several uncategorised rises as well as four categorised climbs.
Juan Ayuso took the honours on stage seven, from Castel di Sangro to the first summit finish of this year's race at Tagliacozzo, finishing four seconds ahead of his premier rival Primoz Roglic. But it wasn't enough to stop the Slovenian from moving into the race lead, taking over from Mads Pedersen, with the battle lines drawn for this year's maglia rosa in Rome.
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BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
Free rides offered on Santander Cycles on Sundays in August
Londoners are being offered free unlimited 60-minute rides on Santander Cycles during Sundays in August, to celebrate Transport for London's (TfL) Cycle Cycle Sundays scheme was created to encourage those new to cycling to give it a go, with beginner-friendly routes, leisure ride routes and cycle training tips provided, according to include rides around Hampstead Heath and Primrose Hill, Hyde Park and Notting Hill, Tower Hamlets and scheme begins on 3 August with free day passes available via the TfL website, which can be redeemed from the app, website or from one of the docking stations available across London. Fitness apps Strava and Komoot have partnered with TfL to help cyclists track and record their activities with routes across the will be able to see the route map in real time with directions being provided. They will also be able track the route length and see its difficulty level, elevation levels and how busy the road is. Santander e-bikes must be hired via the Santander Cycles app or with a membership key and are only available to registered members, TfL added. Rides exceeding 60 minutes will incur additional charges of £1.65 for each additional 60 minutes for pedal bikes and £3 for each additional 60 minutes for an Norman, London's walking and cycling commissioner, said: "Cycling can be for everyone and it really is the best way to explore London this summer, with more than 410km of cycling routes available for both beginners and experienced riders."David Eddington, from TfL, said: "Cycling is not only brilliant for your physical and mental health but also is a great way of getting around and exploring London. "Whether you have never been on a bike, or are a regular user, we look forward to seeing many people claiming their free Santander cycle every Sunday in August."
BBC News
2 hours ago
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The mountain retreat - upholding an Italian tradition
The wheels on Josh Doig's plane had barely kissed Italian tarmac before he was whisked off to the Alps for a lung-pumping, leg-burning pre-season training camp with his new team-mates."They said to me if you sign, you can go home, pack a bag, come back," laughs the Scotsman, reflecting on his arrival at Hellas Verona in July 2022. "I was expecting to be drip fed into it."But literally I signed, then two hours [drive] straight up to the mountains, not speaking the language - it was terrifying, but after a few days I loved it."The ritiro pre-campionato - translated as pre-season retreat - is something of an Italian have long swapped hot and humid summers for fresh mountain air and picturesque surroundings in the north of the country, spending weeks preparing for the new season at high-altitude camps."You have almost six weeks off with your family and then 17 days away," adds left-back Doig, now with Sassuolo in Serie A and speaking from his fourth such retreat, this one in the quiet Alpine village of Ronzone."When you're in the mountains it's just head down and work hard. You feel dead on your feet every day but it is good because you know you are getting something out of it."It is a shock to the system but it gets you right back in the swing of things with your fitness and the football way of mind."While many clubs, particularly those in the Premier League, now opt for lucrative global tours, the 'ritiro' remains relatively unscathed heritage in Serie A."Every player has grown up with this kind of tradition," explains Genoa sporting director Marco Ottolini. "Maybe we have more mountains than other nations!"This summer, only AC Milan ventured outside Europe, playing in Hong Kong and Australia, with several clubs setting up retreats at their own training bases and 12 still making a trip to the slopes. Antonio Conte's Napoli are even doing it twice."You have better air, oxygen," says Gokhan Inler, technical director at Udinese, who have made a short hop across the border to Austria. "You are more controlled with food and sleep. It helps build the group, new players come in faster." Italian disciplinarian Fabio Capello recreated a similar retreat with England before the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, grilling the squad away from friends and family in the small village of Irdning, tucked away in the Austrian Italian football journalist Daniele Verri explains, would use the remote camps to control their players' behaviour or stop them partying in pre-season."Fans wouldn't even know where their clubs would go," adds Verri. "Now you get full houses."Over time, the culture has changed - as well as open training sessions for fans, most clubs allow players' families to visit, the camps have become shorter and there are more team-building activities. Genoa's players, for example, have spent time rafting and on mountain walks."In the past it was much longer," explains Ottolini from Genoa's base at Moena, in Val di Fassa, where they spent 11 days."There were clubs that stayed in the mountains for three weeks and for me that was something that was damaging the mental health of the players. Now you have to manage the breaks, give some free time to do different activities."Training methods have evolved too, of course."When I was younger it was more mountain runs, up and downs, more physical, 1,000m runs back and forth," says former Switzerland midfielder Inler, who spent eight seasons in Serie A with Udinese and Napoli."Then slowly it changed. Some coaches, like Rafael Benitez, liked to run but on the pitch with a ball."Now on the pitch you can do everything - more people, more scientific materials, you can check more data. Before you had GPS, but basic things, now you see sprints, distance, all these things to fine-tune the body." For Patrick Vieira's Genoa, a typical day - when there are no friendlies - consists of a morning and afternoon session, around which the players can use the spa and swimming pool, or do some recovery work with the physio."Patrick has brought a lot of self-consciousness and he transmits this kind of charisma, this calmness in the right way that is good for everybody," says Ottolini."Patrick is very organised, he gives the right breaks to the players and then in that hour when there is training he wants their full concentration, their full focus."At Sassuolo's camp, it has also been daily double sessions under Italian World Cup-winning left-back Fabio Grosso."It is full on," explains Doig. "We always do running or gym in the morning and always ball work in the afternoon. The gaffer is good with that."Now it is getting more tactical. Tactics, games in the afternoon - it gives you something to look forward to after the hard session in the morning."Of course, there is still always time for golf. "There is a beautiful course, Dolomiti Golf Course, five minutes' drive away," smiles Doig. "Whenever we get an afternoon off, we're straight there for like five hours." 'It's an event' - why Napoli have two camps As well as friendlies and open training sessions, clubs lay on events for visiting fans - Genoa boss Vieira spoke in the square at nearby Alpine resort Canazei and players took part in a table football tournament."It is traditional for the supporters," adds Ottolini. "They like to come with families to watch games and training, to stay a bit closer to the team compared to what they can do during the season."So popular are the retreats among Napoli fans, they have put on two this summer."In the 1980s, all Italian teams went to the mountains - fresh air, to build team spirit. It was really just between team-mates," says Naples-based journalist Vincenzo Credendino."Now the retreat of Napoli is an event. They train during the day and then in the night there is always an event."One night cinema, another night the presentation of the team, another there is Conte with his staff answering questions from people, another with four players, a disco night - it's a holiday village, really!" But there is also an economic incentive for side spent 11 days in Dimaro Folgarida, in Trentino's Val di Sole, before heading for two weeks in Castel di Sangro, in the Apennine Mountains in Abruzzo."For the regions, it is good to have Napoli because Napoli bring a lot of fans who go to hotels, restaurants, they kayak, mountain bike," explains Credendino."It's a lot of money - it's like a real business for the regions for Trentino and Abruzzo. They pay Napoli to come but they earn much more."Verri adds: "For a mountain resort looking for visibility, it can mean a lot to host a top club's pre-season training camp. It attracts publicity and above all fans, lots of fans."That is why it can be worth attracting teams for the retreat with sponsorships, free accommodation and various benefits."It begs the question - would clubs consider ditching the traditional retreats for more lucrative overseas options in future?"For the player it is hard," says Inler of that option. "After a long season, you go to a tour and it is a big fatigue, especially mentally. Smaller clubs, you are here in Europe, then it is less fatigue."If you are higher, if you are a better player, everybody wants something from you, the club needs to promote you, needs to promote the club - the higher you go the more you have to do."
The Guardian
9 hours ago
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Tour de France Femmes: Squiban sends home fans wild with second stage win
Maëva Squiban fuelled joyous scenes in the Haute-Savoie, winning the first high mountain stage of the 2025 Tour de France Femmes in Chambéry, just 24 hours after taking victory in stage six in Ambert. The French rider, who celebrated draped in a Breton flag, was part of a 13-rider breakaway that splintered on the first climb, the Côte de Saint-Franc, and then gradually dwindled as the gradients started to bite. Squiban, a former French junior champion when 15 years old, finally shed her last companion, Mareille Meijering, 2km from the top of the Col du Granier and accelerated clear alone. 'At the start, I made a joke about attacking again,' she said, 'but in the end it wasn't a joke.' On the fast descent of the Granier, overlooking Chambéry, Squiban, nudging 80km/h on the narrow road, again held off the pursuing group of race favourites, including the defending champion, Kasia Niewiadoma, and rival Demi Vollering, to take successive stage wins. Further down the Granier, Kim Le Court's time in yellow appeared to have come to an end when the group of favourites picked up the pace, and her closest rival, France's Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, briefly became race leader on the road. But Le Court was saved by her fearless descending. The Mauritian did not panic and her dogged pursuit of the group containing Niewiadoma, Vollering and Ferrand-Prévot paid off when she rejoined them close to the finish. 'I think I almost died a few times on the descent,' Le Court said. 'The last 4km of the uphill were difficult. My body just completely shut off. Once I got to the top, I knew I had to do the best downhill of my life to try and come back. I did a recon of the descent a few weeks ago so I knew what was coming, and I just had to go full gas. I think I went 10 times faster than the recon.' Meanwhile, on the eve of the toughest mountain stage in the race, Ferrand-Prévot's drastic weight loss was the subject of some scrutiny after images of her racing jersey, pinned at the sleeve so it didn't hang loosely, emerged in the Dutch media. The debate has been fuelled by comments made by French rider Cédrine Kerbaol who, alarmed by the weight loss among her peers, told French media: 'We're in a dangerous moment. There are a lot of people that have won big races with very low weight, and young girls, who are trying to perform, will take them as an example. What's happening is not great.' 'Top-level sport is extreme in every way,' Rutger Tijssen, sport technical manager at Ferrand-Prévot's Visma-Lease a Bike team, told Sporza. On SaturdayToday, when the women's peloton will tackle both the 13km-long Col de Plainpalais and, later, a summit finish on the 'beyond category' Col de la Madeleine – an 18.6km climb to 2,000m – power-to-weight ratios will be pivotal. 'Pauline's leaner than in the spring,' Tijssen said, 'but this also requires different things when you have to climb the Col de la Madeleine. Then it's logical that you adapt.' Ferrand-Prévot won the Olympic mountain bike title at Paris 2024 but has since devoted herself to road racing with the goal of winning the Tour de France Femmes. 'She's not much leaner than she was a year ago,' Tijssen said. 'Of course, she stays healthy. You know what's happening and you make choices, which we monitor.' The next 48 hours will decide the outcome of the race, which includes summit finishes on the Madeleine and at Châtel, as well as the daunting climb of the Col de Joux Plane on Sunday. Only 35 seconds currently separate the top five in the overall standings, but with more than 6,000 metres of climbing still to come, those gaps are certain to widen.
