13 seconds behind Kuss, who celebrated his first victory in almost two years, Derek Gee-West (Lidl - Trek), who was also in the breakaway group, finished second. Third, 36 seconds behind the winner, was Giulio Ciccone, the second Lidl pro, who won the majority of the mountain classifications and thus took the Maglia Azzura.

Kuss' captain Jonas Vingegaard remains in pink, together with Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) and Jai Hindley, who is now third overall behind the Dane and the Austrian, because Thymen Arensman (Netcompany INEOS) was unable to keep up with the trio on the final climb and finished around a minute behind Hindley.

Gee-West also climbed up one place and overtook the man in the white jersey, Afonso Eulalio (Bahrain - Victorious), who is now sixth, but still leads the young rider classification by one minute ahead of the next Vingegaard helper Davide Piganzoli.

Kuss completes his trilogy

"To be honest, I didn't think I could catch Giulio Ciccone when he had a one-minute lead. I was very frustrated with this race situation because I had great legs," said Kuss after his victory. The US-American continued: "I thought I had lost that chance to win the stage, but I tried to refocus. I knew that the last climb would be a test for the legs. When I saw it halfway up, I realised that I had caught up and could ride for the win again. I gave it my all in the last kilometre, I wasn't thinking, I probably didn't look very good, I was suffering a lot, but I wanted to finish with no regrets." For Kuss, the stage win also means that the 2023 Vuelta winner has now completed his Grand Tour trilogy, having previously won stages in Spain (2019 and 2023) and at the Tour de France (2021).

151 kilometres from Feltre to the Piani di Pezzè plateau near Alleghe in the Dolomites were on the programme. Another mountain finish awaits on Saturday before the Giro ends in Rome on Sunday.

Giro d'Italia 2026 - Results of the 19th stage

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How the 19th stage of the Giro d'Italia 2026 went

The queen stage only needed a short run-up to get going. Groups formed over the first few flat kilometres, and already at the Passo Duran (1st category), the first hurdle of the day, some of the classification riders dared to come out of hiding. While a 15-man group around Kuss, Ciccone, Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe), Damiano Caruso (Bahrain - Victorious) and Enric Mas (Movistar Team) broke away early on the climb, Gee-West and Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) followed with a group of eleven.

At the top of the pass, there was a good 30 seconds between the two formations, with the peloton a minute and a half behind. Meanwhile, the UAE Emirates - XRG team reported the abandonment of Jhonatan Narvaez, leaving Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step) more or less clear in the fight for the points classification and only having to reach Rome.

Ciccone scores plenty of mountain points

On the way to Coi (2nd category), the leading group and the chasers joined forces and had a lead of two and a half minutes with 82 kilometres to go. The group became too big for Ciccone and Einer Rubio (Movistar Team), they broke away and rode through Coi with a 30-second lead.

After the Staulanza Pass (2nd category), the chasers caught up again in the first few metres to the Passo Giau (Cima Coppi), but not all of the original breakaway riders were able to keep up. 14 riders stayed together. Little changed in the situation up to the Giau. Until then, Ciccone had claimed every mountain classification, which also put him in the blue jersey, which he had previously worn on behalf of Vingegaard.

Hindley bites into Gall and Vingegaard

One climb later at Passo Falzarego (2nd category), Rubio chased down a few points from Ciccone. The group no longer worked together perfectly, but had extended its lead over the peloton to just under three minutes. There were still 28 kilometres to the finish. Ciccone then pulled away on the descent and built up a lead of up to a minute on the rest of the group.

And that's how Ciccone went into the final climb. Three kilometres before the finish, he still had 30 seconds on Kuss, Gee-West and Pellizzari. Meanwhile, Gall attacked out of the group of favourites. Only Vingegaard was able to follow, Hindley left a small gap. But the gap to Arensman opened up.

At the front, Kuss attacked again, 2200 metres before the finish he was with Ciccone and immediately left the Italian behind. Nobody could stop the US rider from winning, not even Gee-West, who passed his team-mate but was unable to catch Kuss. From behind, Gall, Vingegaard and Hindley, who was able to catch the duo with the help of Pellizzari, almost flew past Ciccone. Arensman lost a minute.