May 30/26 19:18 pm - Giro d'Italia Stage 20

Posted by Editoress on 05/30/26
 

Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) won the 20th stage a 200-kilometre route between Gemona del Friuli and Piancavallo by launching a devastating attack 11 kilometres from the finish and cruising to victory on the final mountain stage.

The Dane completed the stage in 5:03:55 seconds, securing his fifth stage win in this edition of the Giro d'Italia and the 53rd professional victory of his career. Felix Gall (Decathlon-CMA CGM) finished second, 1:15  behind, ahead of Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora) and Derek Gee-West (Lidl-Trek), both with the same time.

With this latest victory in the mountains, Jonas Vingegaard strengthened his lead ahead of the final stage in Rome. The Visma-Lease a Bike rider leads the general classification by 5:22 over Felix Gall and 6:25 over Jai Hindley, who remains third on the provisional podium.

A large breakaway before the double ascent of Piancavallo
The stage, with 3,751 metres of elevation gain, began with multiple attacks from the start. Simone Gualdi (Lotto-Intermarché), Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), Jonas Rutsch (Lotto-Intermarché), and several other riders tried to break away in the opening kilometres, before a first group formed with Jonas Geens, Axel Huens, Jack Haig, Andreas Leknessund, and Guillermo Thomas Silva.

Manuele Tarozzi and Larry Warbasse reacted from behind, eventually catching up with the leaders. The breakaway now consisted of seven riders: Geens, Tarozzi, Huens, Haig, Warbasse, Leknessund, and Silva.

Uruguayan Guillermo Thomas Silva (XDS-Astana) was the fastest in the intermediate sprint at Forgaria nel Friuli, ahead of Leknessund, Tarozzi, Geens, and Huens. Shortly after, at Clauzetto, the first categorized climb of the day, Leknessund crossed the summit first and claimed the nine points for the third-category ascent.

The breakaway built a maximum advantage of 5:40, but Visma-Lease a Bike took control of the peloton before the first passage through Piancavallo and began to reduce the gap with a steady pace.

Visma toughens the race on the first Piancavallo climb
The first ascent of Piancavallo, 14.5 kilometres at 7.8%, began to thin out both the breakaway and the peloton. At the front, Silva, Tarozzi, Geens, and Huens dropped back, while Jack Haig, Larry Warbasse, and Andreas Leknessund held on at the front.

In the main group, Visma-Lease a Bike maintained high pressure with Tim Rex and Victor Campenaerts. Ben O'Connor initially struggled, although he managed to rejoin the peloton, while Afonso Eulálio hung on at the back of the group of favourites.

Jack Haig crested the first passage of Piancavallo in the lead, ahead of Warbasse and Leknessund. Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek), leader of the KoM, earned four points by crossing the summit in sixth place, virtually securing the blue jersey, pending the completion of the race in Rome.

After cresting the summit, Ciccone attacked, and shortly after, Igor Arrieta (UAE Emirates-XRG) and Ludovico Crescioli (Polti-Visit Malta) followed suit. On the long, winding, and technical descent, Arrieta and Crescioli caught Huens and subsequently rejoined the leading group.

Igor Arrieta Wins the Red Bull Kilometre
With 35 kilometres to go, the breakaway group regrouped with Axel Huens, Jack Haig, Ludovico Crescioli, Larry Warbasse, Igor Arrieta, and Andreas Leknessund, while the peloton, still led by Visma-Lease a Bike, remained 1:36 behind.

The Red Bull Kilometre in Malnisio, located 24 kilometres from the finish, saw Spanish riders take center stage. Igor Arrieta crossed the line first and earned six bonus seconds, ahead of Larry Warbasse, who gained four, and Ludovico Crescioli, who earned two.

The breakaway faced the second and final ascent of Piancavallo with a chance, but the situation changed quickly on the early slopes. Huens and Haig were caught, Warbasse tried to attack, and Arrieta accelerated again alongside Crescioli, before the pace of the peloton finally absorbed the last survivors.

Vingegaard broke away from the stage 11 kilometres from the finish. 
The final climb to Piancavallo once again demonstrated Jonas Vingegaard's superiority in this Giro. With 13 kilometres to go, Giulio Ciccone and Ben O'Connor were dropped. A kilometre later, Giulio Pellizzari and David de la Cruz lost contact, while Visma continued to set up Bart Lemmen.

With 11 kilometres remaining, Vingegaard launched his decisive attack. Felix Gall initially jumped on his wheel, but could only stay with him for a few metres before being dropped. The Dane caught Leknessund and Crescioli with 9.9 kilometres to go and, almost immediately, went solo.

Behind them, Derek Gee-West tried to shake things up with an acceleration 9.2 kilometres from the summit. Afonso Eulálio cracked 7.9 kilometres from the finish and lost time in the general classification, while the chasing group regrouped, including Gall, Hindley, Gee-West, Arensman, and Bernal.

Vingegaard never looked back. The race leader opened up a gap decisively and crossed the finish line solo at Piancavallo. Gall won the sprint for second place, with Hindley third and Gee-West fourth, all 1:15 behind the winner. Thymen Arensman finished fifth at 1:19 and Egan Bernal was sixth at 1:25.

Giro d'Italia Stage 1
New Leader at Giro after Stage 2
Giro d'Italia Stage 3
Giro d'Italia Stage 4: New leader
Giro d'Italia Stage 5, another new leader
Giro d'Italia Stage 6

Gee Moves into top 15 after Giro Stage 7

Giro d'Italia Stage 8

Giro Stage 9

Derek Gee-West Interview at the End of Week 1 of the Giro

Giro d'Italia Stage 10, Gee into top 10

Giro d'Italia Stage 11
Giro Stage 12

Giro d'Italia Stage 13
Giro Stage 14

Giro d'Italia Stage 15

Gee Moves to 6th after Giro Stage 16

Giro d'Italia Stage 17

Giro d'Italia Stage 18

Gee 2nd on Stage 19 of Giro d'Italia