Giro d'Italia - Stage 21: Milan has the best sprint legs, Vingegaard celebrates in pink
TOUR Online
· 31.05.2026
The final act of the Giro d'Italia 2026 led the riders over 133 kilometres through the Italian capital Rome. 151 riders tackled the final stage of the Tour of Italy. Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), who had the best sprint legs on the winding and slightly uphill final kilometres, took the day's victory. Second place went to Giovanni Lonardi (Team Polti VisitMalta), third place to Paul Penhoët (Groupama - FDJ). For Milan, it was the success he had hoped for late in this Giro after missing out on many victories.
Away from the hectic sprint finale, Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) crossed the finish line as the overall winner of the 109th edition of the Giro d'Italia. He won the Tour of Italy with a lead of 5:22 minutes ahead of Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) and Jai Hindley (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) with a gap of 6:25 minutes.
After the customary show-running of the first half of the race, the field reached the final circuit through the city centre after 50 kilometres: 9.5 kilometres that had to be cycled eight times. The route led past the Colosseum, within sight of the Pantheon and Piazza Navona and on the way back directly along the banks of the Tiber. The finish line is at the Circus Maximus.
The mountain classification of this Giro d'Italia goes to Guilio Ciccone (Lidl - Trek), the points classification to Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step). Afonso Eulalio (Bahrain Victorious) wins the young rider classification.
Giro d'Italia 2026 - Results of the 21st stage
How the 21st stage of the Giro d'Italia 2026 went
At the start, the attention belonged to Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike). The start of the final stage of a grand tour is usually seen as a showcase for the riders who have ridden to the fore over the past three weeks. This year's Giro d'Italia was no different. Accordingly, overall winner Vingegaard took centre stage in the pink jersey - with a specially painted pink bike and team-mates riding in a special jersey to commemorate the Dane's Grand Tour trilogy.
Special paintwork for Jonas Vingegaard
After 35 kilometres, the stage picked up speed with the first intermediate sprint, which was won by Filippo Turconi (Bardiani-CSF-7Saber). On the circuit, Nico Denz (Red Bull - Bora - hansgrohe) made the first significant push 67 kilometres before the finish. However, the German's endeavour was unsuccessful due to numerous attacks. Shortly afterwards, Remy Rochas (Groupama-FDJ) and Tobias Bayer (Alpecin-Deceuninck) broke away, but didn't get far.
With 25 kilometres to go, another escape group formed with Remy Cavagna (Groupama-FDJ), Victor Campenaerts (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Matteo Sobrero (Lidl-Trek).
After the trio had been dropped, Jasper Stuyven (Soudal - Quick-Step), Filippo Ganna (Netcompany INEOS) and Sobrero launched another attack. As Sobrero was there again, Lidl-Trek was able to hold back in the chase, which paid off as a numerical advantage in the finale. The three breakaway riders did not gain a big lead, but Ganna in particular demanded everything from the sprint teams in the chase. The group was finally caught three kilometres from the finish.
