Giro d'Italia 2026 stage 9 preview | If Vingegaard is in the mood, the climb is steep enough

The second weekend of the Giro d'Italia is going to leave the riders well and truly tired by the time the rest day arrives. After Blockhaus on Friday and the Tappa dei Muri on Saturday, Sunday takes them to Corno alle Scale. Who strikes on this summit finish? IDL Pro Cycling looks ahead.

On day nine, RCS is returning to a climb it last used as a Giro d'Italia stage finish way back in 2004: the Corno alle Scale. On that occasion, Gilberto Simoni won the 12.8-kilometre ascent (6% average) on its steep closing ramps, ahead of Damiano Cunego and Franco Pellizotti.

Before the final climb, the riders must first conquer 150 predominantly flat kilometres from Cervia. Expect a fierce battle for the early breakaway there, assisted or otherwise by teammates who excel on flat terrain.

Opening phases like these often last a long time — meaning it is quite possible that riders could reach the key moment of the stage in just over three hours of racing: the two-stage rocket of Querciola and Corno alle Scale, with a short descent connecting them. In total the riders climb to 1,200 metres above sea level, up from just 200 metres at the start.

The Querciola is 11.3 kilometres long at an average gradient of 4.3% — an ideal warm-up for the day's final climb. The Corno alle Scale itself rises for 10.8 kilometres at an average of 6.1%. But that figure does not tell the whole story: what applies to the stage profile in general applies to the finishing climb as well — the hardest is saved for last.

The first six kilometres average just 4%, before a two-kilometre section at 7.2% kicks in. Then come the steepest ramps: the final 2.7 kilometres of the Corno alle Scale average 10.1%, with a maximum gradient of 15%.

Times
Start: 12:35 p.m. CET
Finish: 5:15 p.m. CET

The weather on Sunday should not be too troublesome. The riders will enjoy pleasant sunshine and temperatures around 20°C in the start town of Cervia. The wind out of the start is broadly in their favour — a gentle tailwind towards Bologna — though there will be barely any wind to speak of regardless.

Once the racing heads uphill in the finale, temperatures will drop. At the summit of Corno alle Scale it will be around 12°C, and while Google gives a 25% chance of a brief shower in the afternoon, conditions around the finish are expected to be largely dry with a little sunshine.

As the Giro d'Italia progresses, interest in the early breakaway grows — and we are curious to see how many riders have circled stage nine in their calendars. On Saturday it took 80 kilometres before the day's leaders were finally established. Given Sunday's profile, that seems less likely.

The finale is demanding enough that we must consider a GC rider winning the stage outright. In that scenario, Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) is the top favourite — but will the Dane and his team have the appetite to go all in? Perhaps that motivation burns even more brightly at Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, where Giulio Pellizzari and Jai Hindley will want not only a stage win but time on their rivals.

Felix Gall is also on the list — but the question is how much latitude the Austrian from Decathlon CMA CGM gets from Vingegaard. A Red Bull attack will undoubtedly provoke a response from him too. The same may apply to a lesser extent for the riders just behind them: Ben O'Connor (Jayco AlUla), Mathys Rondel and Michael Storer (Tudor), and the Lidl-Trek duo of Giulio Ciccone and Derek Gee-West.

Thymen Arensman is not an obvious candidate for a solo attack on behalf of Netcompany INEOS — but we are happy to be surprised. That also goes for Egan Bernal, who apparently felt very good on Blockhaus despite losing minutes. UAE Team Emirates-XRG have no GC leader left at all, meaning they can attack freely with the likes of Jan Christen and Igor Arrieta.

Those two names form a natural bridge towards a successful breakaway — because while Christen could still win from the GC group, that will not be the case for Arrieta. Riders like Christian Scaroni (XDS Astana), Markel Beloki and Jefferson Cepeda (both EF Education-EasyPost), Filippo Zana (Soudal Quick-Step) and perhaps Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto-Intermarché) will all need to be in the move.

At Unibet Rose Rockets, they will also be watching for an opportunity for Wout Poels on a stage like this — though he will likely need help getting to the front. NSN (Alessandro Pinarello), Pinarello-Q36.5 (David de la Cruz) and Uno-X Mobility (Johannes Kulset) all have options too, without a designated GC leader to serve.

Top favorites: Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Christian Scaroni (XDS Astana)