The most important information about stage 9 of the Giro d'Italia 2026
- Sunday, 17 May: Cervia - Corno alle Scale
- 184 kilometres, 2400 vertical metres (mountain finish)
- 2 mountain classifications: KM 167.4 (3rd cat), KM 184.0 (1st cat)
- Intermediate sprint KM 125.2
- Red Bull Kilometres: KM 172.6
- Start: 12:35 pm, finish: approx. 5:13 pm
- Live ticker and results
The route of the 9th stage of the Tour of Italy
The Giro takes a leap to the north, starting in Cervia in the Emilia-Romagna region. Via Ravenna and Bologna, it heads back from the Adriatic coast to the Apennines. The grand finale then awaits in the Bolognese part of the mountains.
But first it's flat. The first 100 kilometres are perfectly flat. After a small wave to warm up, the terrain then climbs slightly, but still not in a way that causes the peloton to break out in a sweat. This changes slowly but surely 30 kilometres before the finish. This is where the climb to the first mountain classification of the day (3rd category) begins. It is just over eleven per cent long and quite unrhythmic. On average it is only just over four per cent, but at the top it is up to 15.
This is followed by four kilometres of descent before the final climb to Corno alle Scale. This climb, which is classified as category 1, also lacks rhythm. The first six kilometres of the climb are barely four per cent, as there are also flat sections and even slight descents. A good seven per cent lurks in the middle section, and the last three then become uncomfortable. The finale of the second real uphill finish of the tour averages ten per cent, with up to 15 per cent at the top.
Sporting assessment of the 9th stage of the Giro d'Italia 2026
Only once before has a stage of the Giro d'Italia ended at Corno alle Scale. The solo winner back then was Gilberto Simoni, who took the pink jersey after stage 3. Back then, it was one of the earliest mountain finishes in the Giro, but this time the summit comes at the end of the first long week.
With the prospect of the rest day and the fact that there are almost no metres of climbing before the difficult finale, and the day is not overly long at 184 kilometres, it is rather unlikely that a breakaway will be able to claim victory. At best, this scenario would be favoured by rainy weather, which, however, has been the case often enough in this Giro.
Nevertheless, the tendency goes to the favourite and thus to Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike), who was not able to show himself as often as he might have wished in the new, aggressive style in the first half of the tour.
