May 31, 2026
The time has come to wrap up another memorable Giro d'Italia with one final stage in the eternal city of Rome. The riders were transferred 650 km South overnight for the final stage which should be a promenade to the coast in Ostia before the sprinters get their last opportunity to go for glory in a bunch kick. The stage is 131 km long with the first passage of the finish line coming with 76 km remaining. There are eight full laps to complete of a fairly technical circuit. The first half of the lap is the tricky half with five 90 degree turns and one 150 degree dog leg that will kill any speed the riders have coming into it. The rest of the lap is fairly gentle with the last corner coming 2.5 km from the finish near the Circo Massimo along the banks of the mighty Tiber River. Paul Magnier has owned the sprints in this Giro but there are a number of guys who could steal the day with a clean run to the line.
Race Summary
There was no rush to get going as the photographers orchestrated photos for classification winners, teams, and even a few countries. Cheers and well done's were given all around and it wasn't until they reached the beach in Ostia that the bike computers ticked over 25 km/hr. The first attack came from Filippo Turconi of Bardiani CSF 7 Saber who hit out to snag the points at the intermediate sprint. He went about 2 km before the sprint and was able to hold on to take maximum points, securing the intermediate sprint classification for his teammate, Manuele Tarozzi. Visma-Lease a Bike started to ride after the sprint and everyone was patiently waiting to reach the circuit in Rome before the real attacks would start.
The Umbrella Pines with their topiary-like canopy became a more frequent sight as the riders neared the city and the entrance to the circuit. Crowds were huge to welcome the peloton onto the circuit and it was Visma-Lease a Bike who took the honor of leading the peloton across the finish line for the first time as winners of the General Classification. Attacks went under the shadow of the Colosseum and the first to get a gap was Ben Turner of Netcompany-Ineos and Andrea Mifsud of Polti-VisitMalta. The duo built a maximum advantage of 20 seconds but at the line with 6 laps to go, the gap was down to just 12 seconds with Soudal Quickstep riding quite hard on the front. A change came in the peloton with the Redbull Sprint just ahead. UAE-XRG led out for Igor Arrieta who had accumulated the most points throughout the race at the Redbull Sprint. He was able to take the sprint here as well, finalizing yet another competition. Turner and Mifsud were caught during UAE-XRG's lead out and Lidl-Trek, Soudal Quickstep, and XDS-Astana organized to control on the front.
Through four laps to go, Rémy Rochas of Groupama-FDJ United sent a flyer which teased out more attacks. Tobias Bayer of Alpecin-Premier Tech skittled across and the pair continued for a full lap with around 15 seconds on the bunch. The finish line was fertile land for attacking with the slight rise for about 200 meters. Bayer dropped out of the front as Rémi Cavagna jumped across to his teammate, Rochas, in the front and had Victor Campenaerts of Visma-Lease a Bike and Matteo Sobrero of Lidl-Trek for company. Sobrero didn't work because of Jonathan Milan in the peloton but the other three were on their limit pushing to establish more of a gap. Rochas ran out of horsepower and dropped from the move with 20.5 km remaining and the gap was closing from 18 seconds down to 12.
The race was reset going through two laps to go as about 20 riders split off the front of the peloton, catching Campenaerts and company. A handful of sprinters were present with teammates but the man doing the damage was Filippo Ganna of Netcompany-Ineos. Ganna attacked again but his problem was that Sobrero and Jasper Stuyven of Soudal Quickstep had latched on and would not be working with the former World ITT Champion. Picnic-PostNL Raisin, Movistar, and Unibet Rose Rockets were forced to close down 18 seconds with 12 km remaining.
The bell rang out with just under 10 km to go with Ganna pulling Stuyven and Sobrero along, still at 18 seconds. Lotto Intermarché and Tudor Pro Cycling got involved but the ride by Ganna was incredible. Riders in the chase were burning off and could only cut 8 seconds off by 4 km to go. Lukáš Kubiš got stuck in and did the dirty work for Unibet Rose Rockets to close the last few seconds to Ganna just outside 3 km from the finish. Mirco Maestri of Polti-VisitMalta gave it one last throw of the dice as he counter attacked over the top but Unibet Rose Rockets were composed and had the race back together through the last corner at 2,400 meters to go.
Lidl-Trek, Unibet Rose Rockets, and Soudal Quickstep were all queuing up with their lead outs under 2 km to go with Decathlon CMA CGM trying to moving forward before a chicane inside the final kilometer. Soudal Quickstep had control at 1 km to go with Milan battling the last of the Unibet Rose Rocket teammates for Dylan Groenewegen. Groenewegen won Magnier's wheel but Milan still had Max Walscheid to keep him out of the wind. The last Soudal Quickstep man pulled off with 300 meters to go as the road tilted up and Groenewegen launched first. The Dutchman looked to be running out of legs and had a hard time getting on top of the gear on the slightly steeper incline. Magnier pulled up on Groenewegen's left with Milan coming around the other side. Magnier couldn't get passed Groenewegen before the barriers came in on a gentle left curve and he got stuck behind. Paul Penhoët of Groupama-FDJ United anticipated this and came with speed to get around Groenewegen before the door closed. The Frenchman was in clean air but Milan had a run from the other side and demonstrated pure power and class as he thundered into the final 100 meters. After 21 days of effort, grit, failure, and defeat, it was finally time for redemption and triumph for the Italian who came across the line to give Lidl-Trek the win they have worked for tirelessly all Giro. It was pure joy and relief as he raised his arms high in front of the screaming tiffosi. A brilliant ride by Giovanni Lonardi of Polti-VisitMalta made an Italian one-two on the stage with Penhoët holding on for third place.
When the last kilometer was ridden, the results became final and Jonas Vingegaard had won the Giro. He is the first Dane to have done so and only the eighth man in history to have won all three Grand Tours with the others being Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Felice Gimondi, Bernard Hinault, Alberto Contador, Vincenzo Nibali, and Chris Froome.
Final Classifications:
Maglia Ciclamino - Paul Magnier of Soudal Quickstep
Maglia Azzurro - Giulio Ciccone of Lidl-Trek
Maglia Bianca - Afonso Eulálio of Bahrain Victorious
Maglia Rose - Jonas Vingegaard of Visma-Lease a Bike
Final GC Top 10:
1. Jonas Vingegaard - Visma-Lease a Bike
2. Felix Gall - Decathlon CMA CGM
3. Jai Hindley - Redbull Bora Hansgrohe
4. Thymen Arensman - Netcompany-Ineos
5. Derek Gee - Lidl-Trek
6. Afonso Eulálio - Bahrain Victorious
7. Michael Storer - Tudor Pro Cycling
8. Davide Piganzoli - Visma-Lease a Bike
9. Damiano Caruso - Bahrain Victorious
10. Egan Bernal - Netcompany-Ineos