Giro d'Italia 2026 stage 20 preview | An early start and finish, but what a finish!

The Giro d’Italia served the riders the queen stage on Friday, but the final Saturday stage is no walk in the park either. In the closing phase, the Piancavallo climb has to be tackled twice, with the finish coming at the top of the second ascent. In de Leiderstrui looks ahead to the final mountain stage of this race.

The twentieth stage of the Giro d’Italia starts extra early, which has everything to do with the opening stage of the women’s Giro d’Italia. At 200 kilometres long, the organisation is not making life easier for the riders, which means they will have to roll out from Gemona del Friuli at 10.45 a.m.

After the start, we basically see the recipe RCS has used throughout the race: a flat opening to keep things interesting for longer. The first 80 kilometres will probably be raced at a high pace again, with the question being whether a breakaway can form before the first climb comes into view.

That is a third-category climb called Clauzetto, 6.8 kilometres long at an average gradient of 5.8 per cent. Not impossible figures for the WorldTour, but after 19 days of a grand tour it can still start to bite in this Giro d’Italia.

After that, the route drops back into the valley for the next 45 kilometres of the stage. What comes after that could be called the decisive point of this final Saturday stage: Piancavallo, and twice over.

Between the two ascents there is still a 40-kilometre section, 25 kilometres of which are in the valley. The last time we finished on this climb was in 2020, when Tao Geoghegan Hart was fastest ahead of Wilco Kelderman and Jai Hindley. Earlier winners on the climb include Mikel Landa in 2017 and Marco Pantani in 1998.

Piancavallo is 14.5 kilometres long and has an average gradient of 7.8 per cent, with ramps well above 10 per cent. Towards the end it does ease slightly, which is useful to know for any possible sprint among the riders still left.

Times
Start: 10:45 a.m CET
Finish: around 4 p.m CET

It has been hot in Italy and the rest of Europe all week. On Saturday, temperatures will again be around 25 degrees Celsius, with not too strong a wind in eastern Italy.

He has been riding for this all Giro d’Italia, but so far it has not happened: Giulio Ciccone and a stage win in La Corsa Rosa. Saturday gives the Italian one last chance at Piancavallo, where in his blue mountain jersey he could send the tifosi completely wild with one final throw of the dice.

However, the momentum seems to be with Visma | Lease a Bike, who have dominated the mountain stages so far. Four times Jonas Vingegaard has won, but the Dane now seems sufficiently satisfied and handed things over to his super-domestique Sepp Kuss on Friday. Who is left? Davide Piganzoli, with whom they are still gambling on the white jersey of Afonso Eulálio.

In a stage like this, the strongest climbers usually come to the fore, which means Felix Gall of Decathlon CMA CGM, Jai Hindley of Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe and Thymen Arensman of Netcompany INEOS can also hope. Hope, yes, because they are mainly involved in the battle for the podium places.

The riders behind them, including Lidl-Trek’s Derek Gee-West and Tudor’s Michael Storer, probably saw their chance on Friday slip away. So perhaps we should look one category lower, at the likes of Egan Bernal of Netcompany INEOS, Ben O’Connor of Jayco AlUla and Chris Harper of Pinarello-Q36.5: riders who should be given some freedom.

And then there are the pure attackers. The likes of Wout Poels of Unibet Rose Rockets and Enric Mas of Movistar, or someone like Johannes Kulset of Uno-X. In all honesty, a stage win for them looks a long way off. For whom that does not apply is Giulio Pellizzari: he already looked much better on Friday and on Saturday that could turn into a resounding win.

Top favourites: Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike).

Outsiders: Einer Rubio (Movistar), Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Davide Piganzoli (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM).

Long shots: Derek Gee-West (Lidl-Trek), Jai Hindley (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Michael Storer (Tudor), Wout Poels (Unibet Rose Rockets), Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious), Egan Bernal, Thymen Arensman (Netcompany INEOS) and Ben O’Connor (Jayco AlUla).