Cyclingflash
Giro 2026: Vingegaard dominates final mountain stage and takes fifth win, no changes between podiumcontenders

Giro 2026: Vingegaard dominates final mountain stage and takes fifth win, no changes between podiumcontenders

Jonas Vingegaard put the finishing touches on the Giro d'Italia atop Piancavallo. The maglia rosa attacked on the final climb and secured his fifth stage win of this race. With more than a five-minute lead, Vingegaard will roll into Rome on Sunday, where he will be celebrated as the winner. Thymen Arensman saw his fourth place challenged by Derek Gee-West but held on thanks to Egan Bernal.

The last mountain stage in this Giro d'Italia promised a lot of excitement, featuring the climb of Piancavallo twice (14.5 kilometers at 7.8%). Although the battle for the overall victory seemed long decided, Saturday still focused on the efforts of Jai Hindley and Arensman, who were both competing for the final spot on the podium, while Gee-West looked for opportunities to climb to fourth place.

Hindley had already predicted before the stage that it would be a grueling ride where riders with something to gain in the general classification would go on the attack.

In reality, it all turned out to be less intense. Early in the stage, a breakaway formed with Axel Huens, Manuele Tarozzi, Jack Haig, Andreas Leknessund, Guillermo Thomas Silva, Larry Warbasse, and Jonas Geens, who soon built almost a five-minute gap over the peloton, which was content to let it be without dangerous GC threats.

Team Visma | Lease a Bike closes gap on breakaway on first Piancavallo climb
Heading toward the first ascent of Piancavallo, Team Visma | Lease a Bike began to chase and quickly reduced the breakaway's advantage. On the climb, Tarozzi and Silva were the first to drop, followed shortly by Geens. Haig, Warbasse, Leknessund, and the combative Huens stayed together but saw their lead drop rapidly toward the top of Piancavallo to just over a minute.

For Igor Arrieta and Ludovico Crescioli, this was the signal to bridge across, which they managed just after the summit. Just behind the six new leaders, Ciccone was the first from the peloton over the climb, securing his king of the mountains jersey for now.

Vingegaard shows dominance again, Arensman must let Hindley go
The riders then prepared for the final climb of Piancavallo. Once on the last ascent, Crescioli tried to escape with the break, but Saturday’s stage win was not to be his. In the peloton, Vingegaard launched his attack with ten kilometers to go, swiftly closing down the Italian.

Felix Gall also tried to follow Vingegaard but gave up after two hundred meters to ride at his own pace. Behind the two strongest climbers in this Giro, Egan Bernal set the tempo for Arensman, who wanted to make a last-ditch effort to secure a podium spot.

The 26-year-old Dutchman, however, did not have his best day again and even had to let Bernal go briefly. Then Derek Gee-West (less than a minute behind Arensman) launched his own attack in an attempt to claim fifth place. Hindley followed the Canadian swiftly, causing Arensman to see his chances of a podium vanish. In fact, Gee-West would even challenge Arensman’s fourth place.

In the end, Arensman held on. In the final kilometers, he rejoined the group with Gee-West, Hindley, and Gall thanks to Bernal’s effort, defending his fourth place. All of this unfolded nearly two minutes behind Vingegaard, who impressively put the finishing touches on this Giro.