Carì turns Pink: Vingegaard claims fourth Giro d’Italia stage win

Climb after climb, the gaps to his rivals keep growing. Jonas Vingegaard, after victories at Blockhaus, Corno alle Scale and Pila, laid down the law once again in Carì — but this time the triumph tasted even sweeter, as it came in the Maglia Rosa. He had said it himself: “I’d love to win a stage in this jersey,” and at the very first opportunity, he seized it with both hands. As so often, all it took was one decisive acceleration with just over 6 km to go to shatter any resistance from his rivals.

Behind him, the finishing order remained familiar: Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) finished second and Jai Hindley (Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe) third, though this time both crossed the line more than a minute behind the winner. The big story, however, was the dramatic collapse of Giulio Pellizzari, who cracked from the very first kilometre of the final climb and saw any hopes of a podium finish or the Maglia Bianca disappear.

Ciccone on the offensive as Pellizzari’s Giro hopes fade

Even in the stage entirely held in Ticino, the opening kilometres were intense, with a highly motivated Giulio Ciccone (Lidl–Trek) eager to force his way into the day’s breakaway. Once the race entered the Blenio Valley circuit, a group of 13 riders broke clear: Jardi Christiaan Van der Lee (EF Education–EasyPost), Josh Kench (Groupama–FDJ United), Giulio Ciccone (Lidl–Trek), Juan Pedro López, Einer Rubio (Movistar), Chris Harper (Pinarello Q36.5), Filippo Zana (Soudal Quick-Step), Alan Hatherly (Jayco AlUla), Frank van den Broek (Picnic PostNL), Alessandro Tonelli (Picnic PostNL), Jan Christen, Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates–XRG), and Diego Ulissi (XDS Astana).

Ciccone swept up both KOMs of Torre and both ascents of Leontica, while the lead group was gradually whittled down. By the time the riders exited the circuit, only Harper, Ciccone, Rubio, Ulissi and Narváez remained out front, with the Ecuadorian doing well to win the intermediate sprint in Ludiano and move to within just two points of Paul Magnier’s Maglia Ciclamino.

Unfortunately for them, however, the short nature of the stage encouraged Visma to keep the race tightly controlled, and the breakaway was reeled in even before the official start of the timed climb to Carì. In a surprise twist — especially after the encouraging signs he had shown at Pila — Giulio Pellizzari suddenly cracked badly, while Visma’s relentless pace also put Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain Victorious) under pressure — the Portuguese rider would eventually slip from 2nd to 5th overall — as well as Ben O’Connor (Jayco AlUla). One final acceleration from the ever-reliable Davide Piganzoli paved the way for Vingegaard’s first attack in the Maglia Rosa, and it immediately proved decisive.

Gall tried to cling to the Dane’s wheel for a few metres, but soon gave up and instead settled into a chase group alongside Jai Hindley, Thymen Arensman (Netcompany INEOS), Piganzoli, Derek Gee (Lidl–Trek), and a resurgent Egan Bernal (Netcompany INEOS), riding in support of his Dutch teammate. Arensman attempted to lift the pace in the closing kilometres, but only succeeded in distancing Piganzoli before being beaten in the sprint by both Gall and Hindley.

The top three was the same as on Blockhaus and at Pila: for the first time in Giro history, a single edition has produced three identical podiums. With Pellizzari’s collapse, Italy now risks its worst Giro ever in terms of the general classification. There has always been at least one Italian rider in the top five – except in 2020, when Vincenzo Nibali finished 7th. At the moment, Piganzoli sits 8th overall.