Pidcock misses again as Visma's Piganzoli takes resounding victory at Giro dell'Emilia with perfect attack
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Follow us on GoogleDavide Piganzoli (Visma | Lease a Bike) kicked off the Italian autumn season on Saturday with an impressive victory in the Giro dell'Emilia. On the San Luca climb, he proved himself the best. There was a strong peloton present, despite the clash with Sunday’s European Cycling Championships in Slovenia.
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McNulty and Quintana honoured at Giro dell'Emilia
At the start of the Giro dell'Emilia, all eyes were on world champion Brandon McNulty. The American from UAE Emirates-XRG won the World Championships in Montreal just six days ago. Despite having expressed doubts about his remaining race schedule, he was on the start line in Italy.
In addition to McNulty, Nairo Quintana was also honoured. The Colombian cyclist from Movistar, winner of the 2014 Giro d'Italia and the 2016 Vuelta a España, rode his final race as a professional in the Giro dell'Emilia. Before the race began, the entire peloton formed a guard of honor for Quintana, who was greeted by his family.
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Long list of favourites pre-race
The Giro dell'Emilia features a grueling finish at San Luca (2.4 kilometers at an average gradient of over 9 percent), which limited the field of contenders. As a result, some riders in the peloton had to make their mark by launching an early breakaway.
Adne Holter (Uno-X), Manuel Tarozzi (VF), Ponomar, Pezzo Rosalo (General Store), Ben Granger (Vini Fantini), and Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Lidl-Trek) were among them.
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Visma | Lease a Bike and UAE Emirates-XRG took control of the race. The Dutch team did so for Matteo Jorgenson, Ben Tulett, and Jorgen Nordhagen, while the UAE team had Adam Yates, Tim Wellens, and Jhonatan Narvaez in addition to McNulty.
Other pre-race favorites included Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious), Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), Jarno Widar (Lotto-Intermarché), Oscar Onley (Netcompany INEOS), and Tom Pidcock of Pinarello-Q36.5.
Read more below the photo!
Brandon McNulty in his rainbow jersey at the start.
Dutch champion Kelderman catches breakaway for Visma
At just under 40 kilometers, the riders tackled the San Luca for the first time—a climb they would have to conquer a total of four times. On that first ascent, Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious), Remy Rochas (Groupama-FDJ), AJ August (Netcompany INEOS), Luke Plapp (Jayco AlUla), and Marcel Camprubi (Pinarello-Q36.5) launched an attack.
One lap later, Wilco Kelderman, wearing his Dutch champion’s jersey, made sure they were caught again, which turned out to be the prelude to an attack by Davide Piganzoli. World champion McNulty followed quickly, managing to surge ahead and trying to break away. He was shut down a lap later.
Piganzoli goes all-in at the Giro dell'Emilia
On the penultimate climb of San Luca, it was Matteo Jorgenson—the man who had helped McNulty win the World Championship —who broke away. Healy, Onley, Pidcock, and Piganzoli managed to catch up to the breakaway on the approach to Bologna, giving Visma | Lease a Bike a numerical advantage.
Piganzoli took advantage of that with a breakaway, while Jorgenson once again put his blocking skills to use.
Piganzoli reached the steep final kilometre with an 18-second lead. Pidcock launched a chase from behind, but it was too late: Piganzoli took the win after a masterclass in cycling.
A full list of the top 10 can be found here.
Results of the 2026 Giro dell'Emilia
Data powered by FirstCycling.com
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Clarice WebsterEditor
Clarice has been following cycling her whole life, wroting about Thibaut Pinot (among others) for her university magazine while earning her masters in Journalism. She is passionate about furthering equality in sports coverage, and has taken huge inspiration from pillars of women’s cycling like Beryl Burton, Marianne Vos, and Laura Kenny.
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Latest Comments
- - Un poco corto en la parte técnica de la bici de McNulty, no? Colnago nero con detalles arcoíris suena brutal — queremos más fotos, per favore.pedalpowe2902-10-2026
- - Demi finally gets her stripes! Team Oranje tactics on point again — recon, lead-out, and that patient regroup. Textbook. Chapeau.sprocketspiny02-10-2026
- - Wait, does the world champ jersey apply to all disciplines or just road race? Can McNulty wear it in a TT too, or is that only if he won the TT worlds?davidm02-10-2026
- - Brilliant coverage. The early flight back to beat jet lag is elite-level thinking. Those marginal gains matter before a punchy Euros course.samanthak02-10-2026
- - Not sure the “surprised everyone” line about McNulty is fair. He’s been knocking on the door all season in one-day races and TTs. Emilia in rainbows is going to slap.patriciaw02-10-2026
- - Love seeing the rainbow bands back on Slovenian roads. Demi looks sharp in that kit. Hope she gets a full custom bike soon, not just a tiny stripe under the seatpost. Come on, give the champ a proper paint job!cadencekingm02-10-2026
- - Quick one: why can’t McNulty wear the rainbow at Euros? Is it only for world champs from Europe or something about national teams vs trade teams?lindae02-10-2026
- - That Dutch masterclass was something else. Vollering timed that second move perfectly after the first dig didn’t stick. Proper teamwork — Wiebes and the crew deserve as much credit as Demi.julien02-10-2026
- - Boonen’s line about trusting teammates is gold. World’s is chess, not crit. Belgium tried to cover every scenario and covered none. Harsh lesson, but needed before next year.samanthak02-10-2026
- - Great read, but the piece leans a bit too harsh on Wout for me. He wasn’t at leader-level form, true, yet the team didn’t set up a plan B well enough. Segaert the bright spot, agreed.julien02-10-2026
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