The 109th Corsa Rosa is four stages old and has already delivered everything that makes the Giro the most unpredictable Grand Tour on the calendar: crashes, surprise leaders, a Dane lurking ominously in the background, and an Italian in pink for the first time in what feels like forever. With 17 stages still to run and the high mountains yet to come, this race is only just getting started.
A Grande Partenza Nobody Will Forget Quickly
RCS Sport made the bold call to open the Giro in Bulgaria on the Black Sea coast. Stage 1 rolled out from the ancient resort town of Nessebar toward Burgas — flat, fast, and seemingly straightforward. It was anything but.
A mass crash 700 metres from the line shredded the front group, leaving just 11 riders to contest the finish. Out of that chaos emerged Paul Magnier (Soudal-Quick-Step), the 22-year-old Frenchman who sprinted to his first-ever Grand Tour stage win. Magnier pulled on the first maglia rosa of the 2026 race.
Stage 2 was even more dramatic. The road from Burgas climbed inland to Veliko Tarnovo, and rain turned the race into theatre. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) launched a late attack alongside Giulio Pellizzari and Lennert Van Eetvelt — an aggressive, Pogacar-like move that sent a clear message to the peloton. The three were caught inside the final kilometre, however, as a reduced bunch swept them up.
What followed was extraordinary. Guillermo Thomas Silva (XDS Astana), a 24-year-old from Uruguay, launched off his teammate's wheel and held on for the stage win — becoming the first Uruguayan rider in history to win a stage at the Giro d'Italia. Silva pulled on the maglia rosa, and the Giro had its first genuine surprise.
The day was badly stained by a massive crash 21km from the finish. UAE Team Emirates-XRG riders Jay Vine and Marc Soler were both hospitalised and withdrew from the race. Adam Yates lost any realistic GC ambitions after finishing over 13 minutes down. Wilco Kelderman abandoned before Stage 4.
Stage 3 — a sprint into Sofia — saw Magnier take his second win in a photo finish over Jonathan Milan. Silva held pink heading into the first rest day.
Italy at Last — and a New Leader Emerges
After the transfer south, the race resumed on Italian soil for Stage 4 from Catanzaro to Cosenza in Calabria. The 14km Cozzo Tunno climb reshuffled the race again.
Movistar spent the final 30 kilometres engineering a lead-out for Venezuelan sprinter Orluis Aular, only to be upstaged by Jhonatan Narvaez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), who came off the Ecuadorian's wheel and held him off at the line.
The bigger story was behind them. Silva, who had worn pink for two days, cracked decisively on the Cozzo Tunno and sank out of GC contention. Into the breach stepped Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek), who timed his move to perfection, grabbed third place and enough bonus seconds to claim the maglia rosa — the first time in his career he has led Italy's greatest race. It came exactly ten years after his first Giro stage win as a neo-pro. The Italian tifosi went appropriately wild.
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Join ZealZagFollow us on InstagramThe Standings After Stage 4
| Pos | Rider | Team | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Giulio Ciccone | Lidl-Trek | — |
| 2 | Jan Christen | UAE Team Emirates-XRG | +0:04 |
| 3 | Florian Stork | Tudor Pro Cycling | +0:04 |
| 4 | Egan Bernal | Netcompany-Ineos | +0:04 |
| 5 | Thymen Arensman | Netcompany-Ineos | +0:06 |
| 6 | Giulio Pellizzari | Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe | +0:06 |
| 7 | Enric Mas | Movistar | +0:10 |
| 8 | Lennert Van Eetvelt | Lotto-Intermarche | +0:10 |
| — | Jonas Vingegaard | Visma-Lease a Bike | +0:10 |
Points (Maglia Ciclamino): Paul Magnier dominates with 105 points — twice the nearest challenger.
Mountains (Maglia Azzurra): Diego Pablo Sevilla, 42 points.
Young Rider (Maglia Bianca): Jan Christen (UAE Team Emirates-XRG).
Vingegaard's Shadow
The elephant in every breakaway's room is Jonas Vingegaard. The two-time Tour de France champion arrived openly declaring his intention to make history with a Grand Tour trilogy. He showed his hand on Stage 2 with that late attack and, while he sits just 10 seconds off the lead, those around him know the gap could be minutes by the time the high mountains are done with everyone.
His principal challengers are Giulio Pellizzari, the 22-year-old Italian prodigy riding his home Grand Tour with genuine ambition, and an intriguingly resurgent Egan Bernal, four seconds off the lead and looking considerably more like the rider who won this race in 2021. Enric Mas and Lennert Van Eetvelt are also in the mix.
As for Ciccone himself — nobody is writing off the Italian at his home race. He is a climber of real class, and wearing the maglia rosa at the Blockhaus finish could be the moment of his career.
Photo: Ciaran Quinn
What Lies Ahead
Stage 5 (Today) — Praia a Mare to Potenza: The first genuinely difficult stage on Italian roads. With 4,000 metres of elevation gain, this is no day for sprinters or the nervous. The Blockhaus summit finish looms.
Week 2 — The Time Trial: A 40km individual time trial could be the most decisive single day of the race. It will suit specialists like Filippo Ganna but could also be where Vingegaard puts serious time into the pure climbers.
Week 3 — The Mountains Decide: Three summit finishes, two transitional stages of constant climbing, and then the traditional processional finale in Rome on May 31. The Giro's brutal final week has broken better-looking GC leads than this one.
Photo: Ana Gonzalez
Why Athletes Should Care
The Giro d'Italia is not just a bike race. It is a three-week tour through some of the most spectacular terrain in Europe — the same roads, climbs, and mountain passes that athletes on ZealZag ride year-round. Every summit finish is a ride you can do yourself. Every stage town is a destination worth exploring on two wheels.
Whether you are following the race from your couch or planning to ride the Blockhaus climb this summer, the Giro reminds us why cycling in Italy is unlike cycling anywhere else. Follow the race, share your own Italian riding experiences with the ZealZag community, and start planning your own Corsa Rosa.
Data current as of Stage 4, May 12, 2026. Race concludes in Rome on May 31.