Giro 2026: preview stage 20 to Piancavallo, one last chance for Jonas Vingegaard?

The Giro d'Italia is almost over, but first we have one more big climb to tackle. On the way to Piancavallo, two tough ascents await, where – according to our expectations – the favorites for the general classification will 'simply' battle for the stage victory. Will pink jersey Jonas Vingegaard deliver what everyone expects from him? WielerFlits looks ahead!

Route

The decision in the general classification of the Giro d’Italia will fall on stage 20 in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region. It is not a high mountain stage like the previous one, where riders had to conquer the Passo Giau, but a stage with a flat start followed by two climbs to Piancavallo.

The penultimate stage is 200 kilometers long and begins in Gemona del Friuli, after which the riders pass through the towns of Buja, Colloredo di Monte Albano, and Majano on their way to Aviano. The first 130 kilometers of this stage are mainly flat. There is still an intermediate sprint and a third-category climb to Clauzetto, but all of this is just a prelude to what follows.

The finale will take place on the climb to Piancavallo (14.3 km at 7.9%), which must be tackled twice. The first summit is over 50 kilometers from the finish, so it remains to be seen which GC contender would want to attack already here. After the summit, a long descent and a winding valley lead to the foot of the actual final climb.

Piancavallo, does that ring a bell? It is the climb where Tao Geoghegan Hart and Wilco Kelderman fought for the stage win in the 2020 Giro. The Brit came out on top in that battle and also secured the overall victory that year. In 2020, Hart and Kelderman only had to climb Piancavallo once. Normally, the winner of the 109th Giro d’Italia is known at the top of this climb.

Classifications

Favorites

Due to the flat approach of the stage, it promises to be a completely different stage than the tough nineteenth stage over the Passo Giau. The stage will be much easier to control for teams aiming for a stage win.

Leader Jonas Vingegaard already indicated on the rest day that he did not want to contest every stage in the final week. At least, Visma | Lease a Bike would not waste unnecessary energy controlling every mountain stage. After all, the Dane and his team must and want to keep enough energy in reserve to start the Tour de France within a month.

The stage to Piani di Pezzè was an example of a race where Visma did not really have to act, even though it remained playable for the favorites for quite a while. The following day, however, seems a unique opportunity for Vingegaard and his team to put the finishing touches on things. Someone like Timo Kielich can comfortably keep the advantage of any breakaway group within limits.

But other riders and teams who have not yet won anything will try in all sorts of ways. After all, all stages have been shared among a very select group of teams, including Visma | Lease a Bike, Soudal Quick-Step, UAE Emirates XRG, and XDS Astana.

Among the attackers, we will therefore certainly see names such as Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek), Einer Rubio (Movistar), Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), and Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious). These men also dominated in the earlier mountain stages in the Giro, including Piani di Pezzè, and thus definitely belong to the best climbers in the Giro. On the other hand, all of the Netherlands is hoping for Wout Poels (Unibet Rose Rockets).

If it becomes a battle among the favorites, we are also curious to see how Davide Piganzoli behaves. The Italian is, of course, a teammate of Vingegaard at Visma | Lease a Bike, but the Dane has already indicated he wants to give his young domestique something as well. Primarily a white jersey, but Piganzoli is so strong that a stage victory might also be possible?

Other favorites who could threaten Vingegaard the most, but of course never really compete for the top prizes, are Jai Hindley (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) and Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM). The Australian and Austrian are ‘the best of the rest’ on the climbs, and they would deserve a stage win for that, but how?

Furthermore, from the Netherlands, Thymen Arensman is still one to watch. Even in the Tour de France’s final week, the Dutchman from Netcompany INEOS already put in attacks; this seems like a perfect (last) chance for him.

Weather and TV

On top of Piancavallo, pleasant temperatures up to 22 degrees Celsius are expected on Saturday. The sun will also be present again, although there might be a brief rain shower in the afternoon.