For the third time in this 2025 Giro d’Italia, Rémy Rochas got in the mix in the front of the race. On Thursday, he did it in an eighteenth stage that was initially uncertain, but ultimately favoured the breakaway. However, isolated in a group of around thirty riders in the lead, the Frenchman couldn’t join the fight for victory in an extremely flat final, taking 26th at the finish line. Two major mountain days now lie ahead for the peloton.
A real battle was expected on Thursday in the Giro between the fugitive and the sprinters. On a quite short 144-kilometer stage, with some hills in the middle of the route, everyone was hoping to have their say. The start of the race was therefore decisive for the day’s outcome, and while Enzo Paleni was the first attacker, a tough battle then took place for around twenty kilometres to establish the breakaway. The young Frenchman, like Lorenzo Germani and Clément Davy, tried hard, but it was ultimately Rémy Rochas who landed in the right group, just before the bottom of the first climb, at kilometre 30. “We were ambitious for this stage, there was a lot of motivation among the boys, but maybe too much,” said Stéphane Goubert. “In the end, Rémy found himself in front although we didn’t expect him there.” “Today the plan wasn’t necessarily to take the breakaway for me, but I ended up there with a bit of luck,” added Rémy. “Eventually, I felt better than the last few days, when I was a little sick.”
“I’m happy I felt good again”, Rémy Rochas
Enzo Paleni tried to bridge across at the last minute but couldn’t join the breakaway on the first climb due to the strong pace set at the front. The peloton completely lost interest in the stage victory, while Rémy Rochas tried to manage as best he could in a group of nearly forty riders, including a few sprinters. “When I saw who was in the breakaway, I wondered how I was going to deal with it,” he smiled. “The middle of the race was still quite interesting, with some nice roads that I knew quite well. In the intermediate sprint, we seized our opportunity with two riders from the Bardiani team. I tried to push a bit on the descent but given that there were only two of us left and it was a bit far from the finish, I preferred to wait. I thought the sprinters’ teams were controlling the breakaway, which wasn’t really the case.” After a ride of about fifteen kilometers up front, the Groupama-FDJ rider was caught.
The attacks then resumed before entering the finishing circuit. “Van Aert tried on a small climb, we found ourselves chasing, but the right group went right after,” said Rémy. “Being alone against teams with numbers was quite complicated. Nico Denz made the little jump that I couldn’t do.” Eleven men therefore broke away for good with thirty kilometres to go, and the German rider then went solo to take the stage victory. Rémy Rochas had to settle for twenty-sixth place on the day. “It ended so-so in terms of results, but I’m happy I felt good again.” “He made the most of his terrain at the halfway point, but it was difficult to have any hope with the big guys there and the profile of the final,” concluded Stéphane. “Tomorrow will be a very long stage with a series of climbs. We hope the breakaway can fight for the victory, but the decision is not ours.” Rémy added: “We’ll try, and the whole team will be at the start to get the best out of this stage. If the legs are good, it will be easier to take the breakaway on this uphill start. We’ll need to give it our all in any case to try to anticipate the big guns.”
