Cycling is living through one of its most anticipated moments of the year. The 109th edition of the Giro d'Italia has been rolling since Friday, May 8th, and won't draw the curtain until Sunday the 31st, when the peloton completes its final lap through the streets of Rome. Twenty-one stages, three weeks, and one single prize: the maglia rosa.
A historic start: Bulgaria opens the show
The first thing that catches the eye about this Giro is where it begins. The 109th edition kicks off in Nessebar, with three stages on Bulgarian soil, largely flat, but with strategically placed climbs designed to ensure nothing is decided too early and the finishes stay unpredictable.
Once back on Italian tarmac, the race shows no mercy. The route features a brutal mountain stage in the Dolomites, a long individual time trial (it's been a long time since a Grand Tour has included a time trial of over 40 kilometres) and no fewer than seven summit finishes. RCS Sport's design team has built this edition with the general classification contenders firmly in mind from day one.
One of the first major mountain tests comes in the Valle d'Aosta, with a summit finish atop Pila, in the municipality of Gressan, a climb returning to the Giro for the first time in over three decades. Further down the calendar, 20th stage looms as potentially the most decisive day of racing, run entirely through Friuli: it departs from Gemona del Friuli and culminates in Piancavallo, perched at 1,280 metres above sea level, with a profile that could only exist in a Giro, and which looks set to deliver the final verdict before Rome gets its say. The closing stage, meanwhile, features an urban circuit in the Italian capital, setting the scene for a spectacular finale in the heart of the Eternal City.
Vingegaard: The undisputed protagonist
The name that doesn't appear on the start list is, paradoxically, the one making the most noise. Having already claimed the Strade Bianche and his first Milan–San Remo, Tadej Pogačar will not be returning to Italy for the Corsa Rosa. The Slovenian, who controlled the 2024 Giro from start to finish, has chosen a different path this season. Remco Evenepoel, double Olympic champion in Paris 2024, will also be absent. These are expected withdrawals, but they sting and they open the door to a far more unpredictable fight for the places below the top step of the podium.
Because first place appears to already have a name attached to it, and that name is Jonas Vingegaard. The Dane stands as the overwhelming favourite, head and shoulders above the rest. The Visma–Lease a Bike leader arrives at his Giro debut with a singular motivation: already a two-time Tour de France champion and reigning Vuelta a España winner, he is chasing the final piece of a Grand Tour hat-trick, an exclusive club only a handful of riders in history have ever joined. His form heading into Italy has been nothing short of dominant: victories in Paris–Nice and the Volta a Catalunya have him arriving with the composure of a man who knows he is at the very peak of his powers.
The "senza fine" trophy awaits the winner in Rome. Image: By Fabio - Partenza Giro d'Italia Modena (24 di 67), CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19432876
The rest hope to cause an upset
The biggest obstacle in Vingegaard's path could well be named Giulio Pellizzari. The young Italian from Red Bull–BORA, fresh off his victory at the Tour of the Alps, has already positioned himself as the Dane's most credible rival at the Corsa Rosa. At just 22 years old, riding with the weight of home support behind him and the track record of two top-10 Grand Tour finishes last year, Pellizzari is Italy's great hope for glory or at least for keeping the favourite honest.
Behind him lurks Felix Gall (Decathlon), the quietly reliable Austrian who always seems to find his best form when the roads tilt upward most sharply. Further back, Adam Yates leads a UAE Team Emirates side that, in the absence of names such as Ayuso and Del Toro, carries its squad's leadership largely on his shoulders.
And then there is the chapter of dreams: Egan Bernal, the Condor from Zipaquirá, who opened his season with the Colombian national title and has since posted a second place at the Tour of the Alps and fifth at Liège–Bastogne–Liège. If redemption has a destination this year, it might just be Italy. The spaniard Enric Mas (Movistar) will also be pushing for a strong overall result, backed by high-altitude workhorses Einer Rubio and Juanpe López.
A time trial like the old days
One element with the power to scramble every prediction is the individual time trial. Filippo Ganna, the seven-time Giro stage winner on home roads, will start as the clear favourite for the 10th stage race against the clock from Viareggio to Massa (a 42 kilometres, largely flat test set for May 19th). But beyond the stage win itself, that same afternoon could tear the general classification wide open, carving insurmountable gaps between the pure climbers and the more complete stage racers. Vingegaard, who has proven time and again that he can hurt his rivals in a time trial, could well put the race to bed before the Dolomites have even had their say.
The curtain has risen. Rome is waiting. Many believe the maglia rosa of 2026 already has an owner but in cycling, as in life, the final chapter is never written in advance.