Al Giro d’Italia 2026 there is still a long way to go, but the journey towards the 109th edition of the Corsa Rosa has already begun. The twenty-one stages have been presented by the organizers and, accordingly, the riders and teams are making their evaluations in terms of programmes. The Giro is one of the most important events of the entire season and many top athletes will not want to miss the start, which will take place in Nessebar, Bulgaria, Friday 8 Mayand who will want to complete, with their respective objectives, the “pink effort”, whose conclusion is scheduled for Sunday 31 Mayon the streets of Rome. Let’s therefore begin to sort out the various announcements and numerous rumors that have been circulating in recent weeks, outlining what the starting field for the 2026 Giro d’Italia could be.
Giro d’Italia 2026 participants
Looking at the strongest riders in the world, at least as far as stage races are concerned, so far only “certificates of absence” have arrived. The most relevant one is the joint one of Tadej Pogačar and his teammate Isaac Del Toro. The Slovenian (who however has not ruled out “surprises”) will aim for the Classics and Tour de France and so will the young Mexican. So, the UAE Team Emirates XRG will go hunting for the Endless Trophy with João Almeidawho returns to the Giro d’Italia, after several placings, with the clear objective of bringing home the victory. There should be at his side Adam Yateswhich will represent the second choice in terms of ranking, and will also be there Jay Vinefor whom, however, it is more likely to expect an Italian campaign dedicated to stage victories and perhaps the Maglia Azzurra.
Heavy absences also with regards to Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohewho did not put the Giro in Remco Evenepoel’s program nor in that of Florian Lipowitz and Primož Roglič. The ranking ambitions will therefore gravitate around the duo composed of Giulio Pellizzari (sixth in 2024) and from Jai Hindleythat he has already been able to win the Giro d’Italia in the past. The two, supported by a Alexander Vlasov potential luxury wingman, they could combine their respective characteristics well: it remains to be seen whether with the aim of both “classifying” themselves or with the intention of going for a single big target.
Waiting to understand what he will do Jonas Vingegaardwho has repeatedly reiterated his desire to be there, thus potentially applying to be the great favourite, the Visma | Lease a Bike in any case he should have a primary role given that he is the defending champion Simon Yates he immediately expressed his intention to be there, although obviously deferring to the decisions of the team (and his point man). The rest of the team will obviously depend on the Dane’s decision, but we can still expect the protagonist team, at least from what has emerged so far.
Among the teams that already have quite clear ideas, there is also Decathlon CMA CGM which he announced he had in Felix Gall his point man, as well as the Bahrain Victorious that will have in Santiago Buitrago e Damiano Caruso his strikers, with the Colombian designated leader, but the Sicilian expert has shown that he still has all it takes to be able to rank high and have his say until the end, if he has the opportunity and this is needed from him, otherwise he will presumably be the leader’s trusted man, and free hitter as soon as possible.
Even the Movistar he has revealed his cards and they should be there at the start Enrique Mas ed One Rubio to have their say on the climb and possibly get a good placing in the standings, with a well-stocked team at their side, as always ready to go hunting for stages. Similar speech for the XDS Astana that will have in Lorenzo Fortunato the point man, accompanied by Alberto Bettiol, Christian Scaroni e Diego Ulissiwho will not disdain the hunt for stages.
However, the choice is not yet official Ineos Grenadierswhich however seems to want to present itself with an interesting couple made up of Egan Bernal e Thymen Arensman. It certainly will be Mikel Landa the captain of the Soudal Quick-Step. The Basque will return to the Corsa Rosa after his very unfortunate participation in 2025 with the already declared intention of aiming for the general classification.
Partial successes will be the main objective of the Lidl-Trek that with Jonathan Milan is a candidate for the reference team for the sprints and the Ciclamino Jersey, however having two other important players for the other stages thanks to the announced presence of Giulio Ciccone e Thibau Nyswith the Italian potentially going after the Maglia Azzurra.
Waiting to get to know the sprinters field better, which in addition to Milan currently sees the only ones Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step) e Danny Van Poppel (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) have revealed their cards, in addition to some of the riders already mentioned there are also other interesting presences such as Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers), bogeyman for the time trial but not only, and the Italian champion Filippo Conca (Team Jayco AlUla).
However, the parterre is still very provisional given that around half of the teams (not counting the WildCards which have yet to be assigned) have not yet revealed anything about their intentions and there is no shortage of important elements in these teams who can change the balance, both uphill and in the sprints, as obviously in the hunt for intermediate stages.
Startlist Giro d’Italia 2026
ALPECIN PREMIER TECH
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS
BUITRAGO Santiago
CARUSO Damiano
EULALIO Afonso
GOVEKAR Matevž
SEAERT Alec
DECATHLON CMA CGM
GALL Felix
EF EDUCATION-EASYPOST
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED
INEOS GRENADIERS
ARENSMAN Thymen
BERNAL Egan
GANNA Philip
LIDL-TREK
CICCONE Giulio
milan jonathan
NYS Thibau
LOTTO-INTERMARCHÉ
MOVISTAR TEAM
LOPEZ Juan Pedro
MORE Henry
OLIVEIRA Nelson
RUBIO One
NSN CYCLING TEAM
RED BULL-BORA-HANSGROHE
HINDLEY Jay
PELLIZZARI Giulio
FROM POPPEL Danny
VLASOV Alexander
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP
COUNTRY Mikel
MAGNIER Paul
TEAM JAYCO ALULA
CONCA Filippo
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE
YATES Simon
UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG
ALMEIDA João
ARRIETA Igor
CHRISTIAN Jan
MORGADO Antonio
VERMEERSCH Florian
VINE Jay
YATES Adam
UNO-X MOBILITY
KULSET Johannes
XDS ASTANA
BETTIOL Alberto
LUCKY Lorenzo
SCARONI Christian
ULISSI Diego
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