Vingegaard puts rivals to the sword on Blockhaus to take Giro win number 1
CyclingFriday, 15 May 2026 at 17:18
Jonas Vingegaard has won the first mountain stage of the Giro d'Italia on Blockhaus. The Visma | Lease a Bike Dane rode the final 4.5 kilometres to the summit alone, after superlative work from teammates Davide Piganzoli and Sepp Kuss. Thymen Arensman climbed at his own pace. Felix Gall was the revelation of the day.
ADVERTISEMENT
The length of the Giro's longest stage was no deterrent for everyone. Jonathan Milan — clearly determined to ride out the frustration of Naples — broke clear from the gun. He established a lead group and was joined by two Dutch riders: Tim Naberman (Picnic-PostNL) and Jardi Christiaan van der Lee (EF Education-EasyPost). Mountains jersey holder Diego Pablo Sevilla (Polti VisitMalta) was in the move too, as was Nicholas Zukowsky (Pinarello-Q36.5).
Read on below the video!
ADVERTISEMENT
Visma | Lease a Bike join the chase
Behind them, a controlled pace was set in the peloton. The leaders built an advantage of around six minutes within the first 30 kilometres — no more than that, as Bahrain Victorious took on the pacemaking duties in the main bunch.
ADVERTISEMENT
After two hours of racing, Visma | Lease a Bike joined the chase as well. At this point the mountains were slowly coming into view, following a long, flat opening section. An intermediate sprint in Venafro provided Milan's reason for being in the breakaway — and he won it emphatically, securing his goal for the day alongside simply finishing.
The Italian then dropped back to the peloton, who tackled the day's first serious climb in economy mode, cresting it — with Timo Kielich of Visma | Lease a Bike on the front — five minutes behind the break, where Sevilla picked up the mountain points.
On the descent, rain began to fall — and heads started to sharpen up. Thanks to Tim Rex driving hard at the head of the peloton, the gap to the leaders came down towards three minutes by this stage. That was the head start the four remaining breakaway riders had when they hit the foot of Blockhaus.
Piganzoli and Kuss set up Vingegaard's attack
ADVERTISEMENT
At the base of the climb, Victor Campenaerts briefly took the front, but the Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe riders quickly moved through. The first significant casualty was Igor Arrieta of UAE, the number two in the overall standings. When Visma | Lease a Bike applied a sharp increase in pace in the exposed wind, Jan Christen was the next UAE rider to be shelled.
Pink jersey holder Eulalio followed comfortably — unlike Enric Mas (Movistar) and Egan Bernal (Netcompany INEOS), who both had to let the group go seven kilometres from the summit as Davide Piganzoli's tempo proved too much. Shortly afterwards, Piganzoli also dispatched Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto-Intermarché) and Derek Gee-West (Lidl-Trek) — and swallowed the last two breakaway riders.
With six kilometres to go, Sepp Kuss took over, effectively serving as Vingegaard's personal lead-out. Under his tempo, pink jersey holder Eulalio was dropped. Then came Vingegaard's attack — with Pellizzari and Gall the only two to initially respond. Arensman — like Hindley — chose his own rhythm rather than following the surge.
Pellizzari hung on Vingegaard's wheel for a kilometre — but then, with 4.5 kilometres still to race, Vingegaard flew. Pellizzari subsequently cracked completely and was rapidly overtaken by Gall, who at his own steady tempo was not actually that far behind Vingegaard — riding an exceptionally strong climb. In the end, Gall finished just over ten seconds back, with Hindley third at just over a minute. Arensman lost just over one and a half minutes.
ADVERTISEMENT
Stage 7 result — Giro d'Italia 2026
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Results via FirstCycling.com
IDL-productions
Meet Bart Lemmen: from 65 forced hours on the turbo trainer, to key part of Vingegaard's Giro plan
Grande Partenza, part 2: the illogical logistics of the Giro d'Italia from inside the caravan
What did the crash-fest in Bulgaria really cost the Brits, Americans and Aussies at the Giro?
Kittel: 'Even when I look at this realistically, I'm extremely positive about it'
Casper van Uden won the first sprint stage at last year's Giro — can he do it again today?
Latest Cycling News
Giro d'Italia 2026 stage 8 preview | Tirreno-Adriatico terrain — now that's something to look forward to
Giro d'Italia 2026 stage 7 preview | First summit finish to ignite the GC battle?
Van Eetvelt must go back to the drawing board after his Giro ambitions hit a Block(haus)
Blockhaus wasn't a piece of cake for Vingegaard — but why did he kiss his handlebars at the finish?
Giro d'Italia 2026 Stages Preview | Vingegaard puts minutes into rivals on Blockhaus
Popular Cycling News
Giro d'Italia 2026 standings | Blockhaus brings GC shake-up as expected. What are the time gaps?
Giro d'Italia 2026 start list: Jayco AlUla's Engelhardt abandons on stage 6. Who are the other 14 dropouts?
Giro stage 6 fines and time penalties: Team staff, not riders, getting punished before Blockhaus stage
🎥 Even the UAE team car isn't safe from crashes! Collision leaves its mark, but Rondel ok
Giro d'Italia 2026 stage 7 preview | First summit finish to ignite the GC battle?
Latest Comments
- The only cyclist who can beat Tadej is Tadej.
Brucegel09-05-2026 - Enough of this b.s. already.Just tell the world all you suspicious people what would satisfy you that he is not doping.live real time urinating and testing?.Live real time blood draws 5 seconds after a race is over?.Fecal analysis.WTF will satisfy you?Brucegel03-05-2026
- This suspicion could be laid to rest by what? What would make all doubters happy that Pogi is clean? Just tell the world all you Frenchmen et al what you want as protocol.You will never be satisfied.That is your level of mindless groundless suspicions.Brucegel03-05-2026
- Here is a novel idea......it's a road bike race, stick to smooth asphalt courses! Cobble is like mild off-road cross riding!!!!Germanrazor14-04-2026
- To lose a race like that on a mechanical problem in this day and age is unforgivable. Why aren't all riders using the same (interchangeable) gear? It is the job of the team manager to manage and reduce risk variables. The fact that he not only didn't pick up on the potential issue but actually ok'd it is just madness.fatehasfans13-04-2026
- Rider X, y and z? Could you update?yaNzKEWL21-03-2026
- Can anyone help me understand the thinking behind the two punishments? Are the commissaires saying you get thrown out of the race for a second inadvertent disposal of a bidon (even to the delight of fans) but that as long as you can afford it you can show off your phalangeal cuticles all day long on international TV? Aking for a friend.packfiller7112-03-2026
- It's a bit embarrassing that. Isn't the main sponsor supposed to keep them at 36.5 ?tomjacques03-03-2026
- They were close to cracking a very tired Tadej that wasn't fully focused on the TdF with a team of riders focused solely on cracking Tadej. And if they cracked him, he would have still won. Tadej won't be racing the giro this year. It'll be an even easier win for him.Veganpotter09-02-2026
- Nice!Bea22-01-2026
Loading
