Vingegaard dominates in the high mountains again and has the Giro in the bag

Jonas Vingegaard continues to extend his dominance in the 2026 Giro d'Italia. The Danish rider also won stage 16, a short and explosive day between Bellinzona and Carì, further reinforcing his pink jersey with his fourth stage victory in this edition.

Vingegaard wins again in the mountains, making the Giro increasingly secure

The Giro entered its final week with a stage of only 113 kilometers, but with nearly 3,000 meters of elevation gain and five categorized climbs. Visma Lease a Bike made it clear from the start that they did not want to gift the victory to the breakaway. Victor Campenaerts had already warned before the start that the plan was to control the race and seek another victory for Vingegaard in pink.

The breakaway took time to form as many teams wanted to be at the front. Giulio Ciccone, Jhonatan Narváez, Einer Rubio, Chris Harper, Diego Ulissi, Filippo Zana, Frank van den Broek, Jan Christen, and Jardi Christiaan van der Lee ended up forming a very strong escape, but they never had enough of a margin. Visma always kept the gap under control with Tim Rex first, Bart Lemmen later, and in the final part, with Campenaerts, Sepp Kuss, and Davide Piganzoli.

Ciccone sought points and Narváez intensified the fight for the cyclamen jersey

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Before the final climb, Giulio Ciccone was one of the most active riders of the day. The Italian scored points on the intermediate climbs and tried to get back into the fight for the mountain classification, although Jonas Vingegaard still has a significant lead in that area.

Also, Jhonatan Narváez took advantage of the stage to score in the points competition. The Ecuadorian passed the intermediate sprint and got much closer to Paul Magnier in the cyclamen jersey classification, leaving that battle open for the coming days.

But the breakaway began to lose options as they approached Carì. Chris Harper, Einer Rubio, Narváez, and Ciccone held on longer at the front, although the gap was too small to think about victory.

Visma prepares the attack and Vingegaard finishes it off

The final climb to Carì, a first in the Giro, was 11.5 kilometers long with an average gradient of around 8%. There, Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe tried to move the race for Jai Hindley, but Visma quickly regained control.

The pace set by Campenaerts and Kuss reduced the group to just about fifteen riders. Afonso Eulálio, who had been the big story of the first half of the Giro, soon fell back again. Giulio Pellizzari also lost contact earlier than expected, complicating his position in the general classification.

Piganzoli was once again Vingegaard's last man and set the race up for the leader's attack. With just under seven kilometers to go, the Dane launched his attack, and no one could follow him. Felix Gall tried to hold on for a few meters but had to ease up and set his own pace.

From there, Vingegaard opened up a significant gap with ease. Behind, Gall, Jai Hindley, Thymen Arensman, Derek Gee, and Piganzoli fought for the podium positions and for a general classification where the second place is still much more open than the final victory.

Fourth victory and more lead in the general classification

Vingegaard crossed the finish line solo with 1:09 over Felix Gall and 1:11 over Jai Hindley. It is his fourth stage victory in this Giro after Blockhaus, Corno alle Scale, and Pila, and the first while already wearing the pink jersey.

Gall confirmed again that he is one of the strongest climbers in the race and secured important seconds in the fight for the podium. Hindley also came out stronger against Arensman, while Eulálio continued to lose ground after his long defense of the lead.

The Giro is increasingly under Vingegaard's control. Visma dominates the race, the Dane responds every time the road steepens, and barring an unexpected turn, the big battle is starting to be more about the podium than the pink jersey.

Top 10 Stage 16 Giro d'Italia 2026

1. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) – 2:57:40
2. Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) – at 1:09
3. Jai Hindley (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) – at 1:11
4. Thymen Arensman (Netcompany INEOS) – at 1:14
5. Derek Gee (Lidl-Trek) – at 1:18
6. Davide Piganzoli (Visma | Lease a Bike) – at 1:34
7. Egan Bernal (Netcompany INEOS) – at 2:04
8. Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) – at 2:18
9. Mathys Rondel (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) – at 2:55
10. Wout Poels (Unibet Rose Rockets) – at 3:04