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2026 Giro d'Italia Stage 12: Imperia > Novi Ligure

Stage info

Date	Stage	Route	Length	Type	Altitude	Finish	Time
Thu. 21/05	12	Imperia > Novi Ligure	175 km	Easy	3005m	Sloping Up	12:15-13:15 CET

Climbs

Location	Cat	Km	Length	Avg
Colle Giovo	3	km 107.5	11.5 kms	4.2 %
Bric Berton	3	km 123.0	5.5 kms	6.0 %

Sprints

Location	Km
Stella	km 100.7
Red Bull km	km 161.6

Weather

Sunny and warm, around 25°C.

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Stage breakdown

With Stage 12, we’re bidding farewell to the Apennines and heading up north towards the Po Plains, the Alps now looming in the distance. It’s a likely sprint stage but some climbs along the way could get in the way of sprinters… and past the midway point in the race surprises tend to happen more often.

As INRNG’s Giro Guide put it, this stage looks like a mirrored version of Milan-Sanremo. We’re starting in Imperia, a city along the Ligurian riviera located to the west of MSR’s iconic three capes. There’s a bit of rolling terrain at first- that could help a breakaway surge clear- but apart from that the first 100 kms are pretty much completely flat, nearly completely along the Via Aurelia, the trunk highway connecting Rome with the French border at Ventimiglia, offering stunning views of the Ligurian sea.

Not long after Savona, the race will turn inlands and start crossing the mountain range separating the narrow coastline from the Po plains. Technically the riders are still in the Apennines, but we’re just a few kms from the Colle di Cadibona, the pass that traditionally marks the border with the Alps. The peloton will tackle two cat 3 climbs: first off, the Colle Giovo, which includes an intermediate sprint along its gentle slopes; further on, the Bric Berton will mark the entrance into Piedmont. After a brief, rolling section at altitude, the peloton will descend towards the plains. The last 30 kms take place on flat terrain towards Novi Ligure (which, despite the name, is in Piedmont and not Liguria); there are a couple of very brief climbs, one of which hosts the Red Bull km at 13 kms to go. The stage wraps up with a 3-kms long straight line to the finish.

Novi is a very important city in Italian cycling history: two of the biggest all-time athletes, Costante Girardengo and Fausto Coppi, were based in the city, which in the years before WWII hosted the most important cycling academy in the country. Nowadays, you can visit a museum dedicated to both Girardengo and Coppi. The Giro, however, might be visiting for a different reason… as the finish line is located a couple of kms outside Novi, right in front of the headquarters of the eponymous company, a major player in the national sweets manufacturing scene which produces the official Giro d’Italia chocolate. At least it’s an improvement from today’s toilet paper connection…

With all this in mind, here are our predictions for tomorrow's stage:

★★★ Magnier

★★ Andresen, Milan

★ Aular, Narváez, Turner / breakaway

Rider discussion

This could be the first mass sprint since the Giro moved to Italy (not counting the Naples mess). It's been quite a while since we've seen the sprinters go at it, so the form is a bit of an unknown. Paul Magnier is our top pick merely because he was the best in the opening stages, but there is an argument that Thomas Lund Andresen could do better with tomorrow's hilly course, and Jonathan Milan is perhaps more experienced in three-weeks races.

It's not a guaranteed sprint, however- the profile is not too different from stage 4, where Movistar rode hard to "shed" the pure sprinters for Aular. The Spanish team is fiercely fighting for a stage win so we might see them going at it tomorrow as well, but the stage is overall easier- the climbs are not as hard, and they're further away from the finish, so that strategy might not be as effective. Still, if they succeed, we could have a reduced bunch sprint in which case Orluis Aular, Ben Turner or- again!- Jhonatan Narváez would be the men to beat.

Last but not least, we cannot count a breakaway out- there have been upset on similar stages in the past, as the race goes on, everyone is more fatigued and it's harder to keep a grip on the race- but given that the sprinters don't have many chances left in the race, we assume that the sprint trains will prevent a strong breakaway to form.

That's it from us, what are your opinions and predictions?

2026 Giro d'Italia Stage 11: Porcari > Chiavari

Stage info

Date	Stage	Route	Length	Type	Altitude	Finish	Time
Wed. 20/05	11	Porcari (Paper District) > Chiavari	195 km	Medium	3367m	Flat	12:30-17:15 CET

Climbs

Location	Cat	Km	Length	Avg
Passo del Termine	3	km 115.9	7.4 kms	5.0 %
Colle di Guaitarola	2	km 135.7	9.9 kms	6.2 %
Colla dei Scioli	3	km 167.1	5.7 kms	6.4 %

Sprints

Location	Km
Luni	km 68.0
Red Bull km	km 182.4

Weather

Between 15°C and 20°C. Mostly sunny.

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Stage breakdown

The halfway point of the 2026 Giro is a hilly stage between Tuscany and Liguria. This Giro, so far, has seen some brilliant stage design alternating with some very questionable ones. This stage should have both: it looks like it has the potential to be a very entertaining race, but the course is going to be quite tricky, especially if the roads are still wet from the bad weather from the past few days.

The stage begins from Porcari or, to be more specific, from an industrial district famous for the production of tissue paper. It’s the Giro equivalent to the Vuelta Carrefour starts- on their way to the départ réel, the peloton will circle around the large plant of Regina, one of Italy’s best known brands of toilet paper and a prominent Giro sponsor. There is nothing to note for the first 100 kms in the race except for the first intermediate sprint in Luni, which marks the regional border between Tuscany and Liguria.

With around 100 kms to go, the peloton will get to La Spezia, birthplace of Alessandro Petacchi. The city’s name translates to “the spice” and quite aptly it’s where the stage will start to have some flavour: the rest of the day is completely hilly, there is not an inch of flat terrain. There are constant ups and downs, and since inner Liguria is very sparsely populated, most of the stage will take place on narrow secondary roads full of bends. It’s the kind of terrain that should make for an enticing race but also one where accidents might happen, the riders will need to be extra careful especially if the roads are wet.

In the first part of this finale, the peloton will travel through the famous Cinque Terre, the coastal region widely considered to be among Italy’s most beautiful places; cycling fans might remember a fierce ITT battle on these roads between Danilo Di Luca and Denis Menchov at the 2009 Giro (which, as you may guess, was not the cleanest of races). The first KOM to Passo del Termine (cat 3) is followed by a descent to pretty Levanto, from where the cat 2 Colle di Guaitarola begins. After a rolling section at altitude, the peloton will again descend towards the coastline only to head back inland for the last two climbs- another cat 3 to Colla dei Scioli followed by the uncategorized climb to the day’s Red Bull km.

That summit comes with 13 kms to go, and the subsequent descent ends aroudn 6 kms later. The last kms towards Chiavari are mostly flat but they’re nevertheless quite hectic with several sharp turns before the home straight on the town’s coastal promenade.

With all this in mind, here are our predictions for tomorrow's stage:

★★★ Breakaway (Ciccone, Leknessund, López, Milesi, Narváez, Poels, Rolland, Scaroni, Silva)

★★ same names as above but late attack

★ reduced bunch sprint

Rider discussion

Tomorrow should be a breakaway stage, it's the kind of terrain where making up ground is very hard and we don't think that any team will be interested in keeping the breakaway on a leash.

Since this stage is not too different from stage 8, we believe that some of the riders who went on the attack like Saturday might try something today as well- we thought of winner Jhonatan Narváez but also his valiant opponent Andreas Leknessund. Other attackers from that day include Brieuc Rolland and Wout Poels. The Movistar duo of Lorenzo Milesi and Juanpe López has shown interesting form so far, we can see them trying again tomorrow... and so does another pair of teammates, Astana's Christian Scaroni and Guillermo Thomas Silva). Giulio Ciccone might be aiming for harder stages, but if he wants to claim the KOM jersey, he could give tomorrow a go.

If a weaker breakaway goes, all the above names could also try to win the stage from a late attack, the late descent and the hectic urban course is a dangerous combo that could play to an attacker's advantage.

Should it come down to a reduced bunch sprint from a reduced peloton, Ciccone, Narváez and Silva could be the men to watch.

That's it from us, what are your opinions and predictions?

2026 Giro d'Italia Stage 10:

Stage info

Date	Stage	Route	Length	Type	Altitude	Finish	Time
Tue. 19/05	10	Viareggio > Massa	42 km	ITT	104m	Flat	13:15-17:15 CET

Weather

Around 15°C. Rainy for the early starters, it should get better as the afternoon goes on. Weak tailwind/sidewind on the coastal portion of the stage.

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Stage breakdown

After the second rest day, the Giro resumes with an ITT- the only one in the race this year, but it’s gonna be a big stage with likely GC implications.

For the second year in a row, RCS has chosen to place the main stage against the clock in Tuscany. Forget gravel roads and rolling hills full of Chianti grapes, however- we will be in the northwestern part of the country, an area known as Versilia. While the Alpi Apuane will be looming in the distance, the course will develop nearly entirely by the coastline, passing through several renowned seaside resorts. It’s the same area where the Tirreno-Adriatico opening TT is held… only this one is nearly four times as long! At 42 kms, it’s the longest ITT in the race since the 60-kms long Prosecco stage in 2015.

The first 15 kms, up until the first intermediate timing spot, are slightly more technical- the peloton will have to navigate the urban roads around the pineta di Levante, a large forest along the coast to the south of the city; this section includes a few 90° bend and a U-turn.

From the intermediate timing spot onwards, it’s all straight for 20 kms as the race keeps to the coastal promenade. In the last 7 kms the road briefly ventures inland to reach another U-turn (where the third intermediate timing spot is found), before going back towards the coastline. There is one last 90° bend immediately before the finish line.

With all this in mind, here are our predictions for tomorrow's stage:

★★★ Ganna

★★ Vingegaard

★ Arensman, Bjerg, Larsen, Milesi, Segaert, Sheffield, Sobrero

Rider discussion

Filippo Ganna is the top ITT specialist in the race and thus he is the overwhelming favourite. Jonas Vingegaard has had some excellent TT performances in the past and we expect him to do well, especially relative to his GC rivals; however, the course seems to be too flat for too long to play to his advantage.

Behind them, there is a number of good TTers who could do well. Among the GC contenders, Thymen Arensman has a good chance to gain time on his rivals; both him and teammate Magnus Sheffield did very well in the opening Tirreno ITT, which had a similar course (but was much shorter). Other than Vingegaard, the Danish fans can hope for a good performance by both Mikkel Bjerg and Niklas Larsen. Matteo Sobrero seems to be here mostly in a lieutenant capacity so he may not go all-in, but he's definitely worth mentioning; you could say the same for Victor Campenaerts... but the Belgian hasn't had a good ITT result in quite a while, so he's even more of an underdog pick at the moment. Perhaps his fellow countryman Alec Segaert has a better chance. Last but not least, Lorenzo Milesi has had some good TT results in the past and he's been outstanding throughout the first week, he seems to be in great form.

That's it from us, what are your opinions and predictions?

Date	From > To	Length	Type	Finish	Time
17.05	Donostia> Donostia	113.1km	hilly	flat	10:31 - 13:30 CET

Information	Official / Start List
Social Media	Instagram / Facebook / Twitter
Previews	ProCyclingUK / Cyclingflash / Escape Collective
Live Trackers	PCS
Where to watch	Regionally on Flo, TNT Sports, HBO Max, EITB, RTVE

2026 Giro d'Italia Stage 9: Cervia > Corno alle Scale

Stage info

Date	Stage	Route	Length	Type	Altitude	Finish	Time
Sun. 17/05	9	Cervia > Corno alle Scale	184 km	Medium	2431m	Summit	12:50-17:15 CET

Climbs

Location	Cat	Km	Length	Avg
Querciola	3	km 167.4	11.5 kms	4.3 %
Corno alle Scale	1	km 184.0	10.8 kms	6.1 %

Sprints

Location	Km
Marzabotto	km 125.2
Red Bull km	km 172.6

Weather

Around 20°C. Mostly sunny.

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Stage breakdown

The first week of Italian wraps up with another uphill finish in the Apennines. This mountain range remains underused in the Giro, and we hope that whoever picks up the mantle from race director Mauro Vegni will try to feature Italy’s backbone more prominently; nevertheless, two uphill finishes is double what we usually get, and after an iconic climb like Blockhaus it’s nice to feature a lesser known one instead. If today’s course looked like something out of Tirreno-Adriatico, tomorrow’s will feel like a Vuelta “hockeystick” stage, with a largely flat course up until the last climb.

Stage 9 kicks off in Cervia, a major coastal resort on the Adriatic coastline surrounded by large ponds where salt is extracted from seawater- the city produces so much salt it often draws comparisons to Lefevere’s columns. For more than 100 kms, the peloton will travel westwards through the Po plains, heading towards regional capital Bologna. Once they get to its outskirts, however, they will veer southwards and the road will start to gently rise. An uncategorized climb will lead the peloton to the intermediate sprint in Marzabotto, a town whose name is forever tied to the massacre of civilians perpetrated by Nazi forces in the late stages of WW2.

Some 30 kms later, the peloton will get to the bottom of the final climb, split between two different KOMs because there’s a flat section in the middle. The first 10 kms count as a cat 3 and they are overall pretty chill except for a steeper section when passing by the town of Gaggio Montano. After the KOM banner in Querciola, there is a brief downhill section where the Red Bull km is located. Just one town over, however, the final climb, the Corno alle Scale (named for the mountain looming above the finish line) will start. It’s around 10 kms long and the average gradient sits at 6 %… but that info could be misleading, the first part is easy while the last 3 kms get quite steep. It’s not a brand new climb but it was last visited 22 years ago- Gilberto Simoni won ahead of his young teammate Damiano Cunego, who’d end up breaking the team hyerarchy and win the race overall.

With all this in mind, here are our predictions for tomorrow's stage:

★★★ Vingegaard

★★ Ciccone

★ Hindley, Pellizzari / breakaway

Rider discussion

Tomorrow does not strike us as a breakaway stage, the fact that it's pretty much flat until the last climb means that it will be harder for a group to stay away, the peloton should be more in control... and many good breakaway prospects already attacked today, so not everyone will want to be on the move for two days in a row.

The last climb is not too selective but the finale gets rather steep, so from what we've seen on Blockhaus two days ago Jonas Vingegaard is the straightforward top pick. If the GC group take it easy, Giulio Ciccone could try something near the end or win from a reduced bunch sprint... or perhaps attack earlier, today he lost several minutes, a sign he's definitely switching to stagehunting mode. Giulio Pellizzari could fit the profile but perhaps his teammate Jai Hindley has been looking punchier this past couple of days?

That's it from us, what are your opinions and predictions?