May 14, 2026
The sprinters have had to endure quite a lot in the last two days but today they will get the chance to contest for the win for the first time in Italy at this Giro. In what has become quite common in the last few years, the riders will race to Naples after 141 km of mostly flat terrain up the Amalfi coastline. The only real elevation comes early on a climb to Cava de'Tirreni after 6.5 km at 3%. The rest of the stage continues North through Sarno and Comiziano before an intermediate sprint in Brusciano with 48 km to go. The Redbull Sprint comes later with 24 km remaining and will likely mark the start of positioning for the finale. Unfortunately for the pure sprinters, the finish is completely different to the one they experienced in Sofia. Naples is always tricky but the finish has been made more complicated with three 90 degree turns in the last kilometer which leads into a 400 meter cobbled uphill at 4.5% to line. Anyone further back than about sixth wheel through the final corner will not have time to accelerate and pass the others before the finish.
Race Summary
The weather was still cool but the sun was out at the start but more rain was forecasted for later in the day. There was wind blowing off the coast across the road from left to right which made the riders a bit nervous but created white capped swells, wonderful conditions for the local surfers. It took 10 km for the first attack to go after KM0 from the Alpecin-Premier Tech duo of Edward Planckaert and Luca Vergallito. There were a few counter attacks but the bunch shut down leaving just two riders out front.
Through Solerno on the approach to Cava de'Tirreni, Manuele Tarozzi of Bardiani CSF 7 Saber attacked from the peloton. He was followed by Mattia Bais of Polti-VisitMalta and Tarozzi's teammate, Martin Marcellusi. They had 1 minute to close and deftly did so, making contact right at the bottom of Cava de'Tirreni. Lidl-Trek kept the gap around 1 minute with the GC teams were ever-present near the front of the bunch as well. 1 km from the top of the KOM, Planckaert decided to drop out of the break and drift back to the peloton. When Bais snagged the points at the top, their lead was just 30 seconds and the task of riding in the break seemed completely futile.
As the bunch reached the top, the front wheel of Nico Denz slipped and went out from under him so quickly that he didn't have time to put his hand down. The Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe rider landed hard on his right side including his head. He was wobbly when he tried to get up and was held by the race doctor to make sure he was not able to get back on the bike without an evaluation. About 15 km later however, we got images of him back in the peloton which presumably meant he was cleared.
With 80 km to go, rain drops began to fall which was the last thing anyone wanted to see coming into Naples. There was another almighty downpour before the sky cleared with bits of sun shining through. The roads were a mix of wet and dry as the race went into a holding pattern. The gaps remained constant around 40 seconds as Mount Vesuvius and the bay of Naples came into view. Tarozzi rolled through the intermediate sprint in Brusciano with 48 km to go and they continued to be held on a tight leash to the peloton with Lidl-Trek, Soudal Quickstep, and Unibet Rose Rockets riding and in full control.
The break was reabsorbed with 37 km to go but the race remained status-quo until the Redbull Sprint at 24 km to go. The GC teams more or less stayed out of the way and the sprint was taken by Filippo Magli of Bardiani CSF 7 Saber. Before the sprint teams could reorganize, Alec Segaert of Bahrain Victorious went on the attack. There was no hesitation by the peloton and Segaert was quickly hauled back.
Positioning immediately began among the sprint teams and they took up every inch across the wide highway road. With 7 km to go, the course turned off the highway into the city and the bunch went into warp speed. Fortunately the roads were dry and still quite wide. Lidl-Trek, Decathlon CMA CGM, and Unibet Rose Rockets were controlling the front but there were other teams queueing up behind. Unibet Rose Rockets owned the front from 4 km to 2 km when Soudal Quickstep arrived. Decathlon CMA CGM came with force under 2 km to go as the Soudal Quickstep train seemed to dissolve. Unibet Rose Rockets did a phenomenal ride and still had two riders in front of Dylan Groenewegen under 1 km to go. Many riders decided to back out of the finale but all of the main sprinters were lined up behind Groenewegen. They hit the cobbles under 600 meters to go and made it through the penultimate corner, content to follow the Rockets. Through the last right turn, both Elmar Reinders and Groenewegen came down and they were in positions one and two in the peloton. A number of other guys came down with nowhere to go and only two riders made it cleanly into the finish straight. Davide Ballerini of XDS-Astana went through first with Jasper Stuyven of Soudal Quickstep just behind. Ballerini powered out of the saddle up the cobbles with enough speed that wouldn't allow Stuyven to even come out of the slip stream. Ballerini gave his last bit of energy as he crossed the line in disbelief at his good fortune with Stuyven just behind in second. Paul Magnier of Soudal Quickstep made a miraculous recovery to finish third after having to unclip after the crash at the bottom of the hill. None of the fallers seemed too hurt and everyone would go on to finish the stage.
No changes were made in the GC as the contenders focused on safety and set their sights on the mammoth stage tomorrow to Blockhaus.