On the twentieth stage of the Giro d’Italia, the last one in the mountains, the Groupama-FDJ cycling team wanted to shoot its final bullets this Saturday. So, heading towards the iconic Colle delle Finestre and the finish in Sestriere, half the squad actually took part in the day’s breakaway! Enzo Paleni, who hit the front from the start, was later joined by Kevin Geniets, Quentin Pacher, and Rémy Rochas. The latter managed to stay away from almost all the favorites to secure a fine fifth place at the end of a stunning day. Everything will end in Rome on Sunday.
At the end of the day’s 205 kilometres, the riders could almost see the “Eternal City”. Yet, before reaching the Italian capital to cap off this 2025 Giro, one last bit of courage was required on Saturday in a twentieth stage including 4,400 metres of elevation gain, but above all the legendary, partially unpaved Colle delle Finestre (18.4 km at 9.2%). Although the finish was located in Sestriere thirty kilometers further, it was on this climb that everything was supposed to settle down, but it all started with another intense fight for the breakaway. Enzo Paleni managed to enter a solid group from the beginning, then after several unsuccessful counterattacks, a group of twenty managed to go clear in pursuit. Inside it were three other Groupama-FDJ riders: Rémy Rochas, Kevin Geniets, and Quentin Pacher. After forty kilometres, the day’s breakaway was definitively formed. “We wanted to keep the momentum of the last two weeks and put at least two or even three riders in front,” explained Jussi Veikkanen. “In a group of thirty-three, we ended up with four men in the lead! This morning, we said we shouldn’t be satisfied with just having one man in front. We always had to be there in the chasing groups, and the briefing was very much respected from that point of view.”
“I’m happy to finish this Giro in a good way,” Rémy Rochas
“It was an iconic stage and we wanted to be at the front to compete for the best possible result,” added Rémy. “We ended up with four of us, which was really good. It was our best day as a team regarding the breakaways.” As it didn’t include any riders high up in the GC, the leading group was also able to take a large lead. “The closest rider overall was over an hour off, and everyone was really keen to take as much of a lead as possible,” added Jussi. “The gap was ten minutes at the bottom of the Finestre. We knew there was an opportunity, and we had to do our best to seize it.” “It was a pretty clear day up front,” added Rémy. “The breakaway worked well together because we all had the same goal: to pass the Finestre and fight for the stage.” At the bottom of the Italian pass, Rémy Rochas and Quentin Pacher followed when the breakaway immediately reduced to around ten men. “I felt pretty good, even if I wasn’t 100% yet due to my illness,” said Rémy. “I wanted to speed up slightly to reduce the group a bit and climb at my own pace. In the end, I almost did the entire climb alone.” “Harper was climbing too fast, Papach found himself chasing, then Rémy caught him, and that gave him a boost to continue at his own pace,” explained Jussi.
At the top of the climb, and after seven kilometers of “sterrato”, Rémy Rochas tackled the descent with Wout Van Aert, who then waited for Simon Yates, on the verge of turning the Giro around. “That allowed me to ride very fast until eight kilometres from the finish, then I took my own pace,” said Rémy. “I think he wasn’t entirely aware of the situation and the fact that we were potentially fighting for fourth place, so we motivated him with that goal,” added Jussi. On the final climb to Sestrière, Rémy Rochas therefore left it all on the road. “I caught the three guys in front, I dropped two of them, but I couldn’t get rid of the third, and I didn’t have the legs anymore in the sprint,” he said. “It’s a fifth place in the end, and I’m happy to finish this Giro in a good way. I think I’m where I belong, I can’t do much better, even if I would have liked to compete for the win more, like I did today.” The French climber eventually secured his second top-5 finish in the Corsa Rosa, after his fourth place as a puncher in Vicenza. “He showed that he finishes in a strong way, and that’s good going forward,” added Jussi. “He had a few small regrets about the stage the day before yesterday, even though he wasn’t on his terrain. He wanted to take his revenge a bit, and he showed his qualities today.”
On the eve of the final stage in Rome, the Groupama-FDJ couldn’t have any regrets. “Since we lost our ambitions overall following David’s crash, we wanted to be aggressive and active at the front, and that’s what we did,” concluded Jussi. “When the guys are still in the game in the front during the penultimate stage, it’s still a good sign.”
