Power Ranking: the stars fine-tune their from one month before the Grande Partenza

If one rider had to be singled out as the clear favorite one month before the Grande Partenza of the 2026 Giro d’Italia, it would be the same name mentioned back in January: Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), who then announced his ambition to target the Maglia Rosa for the first time in his career. Since then, the Dane has enjoyed a sensational start to the season, gaining full confidence heading into the Giro.

A few setbacks (a training crash and illness) delayed his return, originally planned for the UAE Tour. Instead, the Dane shifted his focus to Paris-Nice and the Volta a Catalunya, with outstanding success: two stage wins in each race and overall victories secured with authority, ahead of Dani Martinez and Georg Steinhauser in southern France, and Lenny Martinez and Florian Lipowitz in northern Spain. He continues to expand his collection of WorldTour stage race wins: Tour de France, Vuelta, Tirreno Adriatico, Itzulia Basque Country, Tour de Pologne… all that’s missing now is the Maglia Rosa.

In the lead-up to the Grande Partenza, the Dane is training at altitude, just like his key mountain domestiques Sepp Kuss and Davide Piganzoli, both present alongside him in Catalunya. In the Pyrenees, Vingegaard had the opportunity to fine-tune the Visma-Lease a Bike setup and closely observe some of his rivals for May — starting with Felix Gall (Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale), 2nd on the La Molina stage (Stage 5) before slipping to 6th overall, following his top-5 finish at the UAE Tour.

Pellizzari flying, Almeida uncertain

Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) was also active, as usual, and was rewarded with the King of the Mountains jersey at the Volta, after targeting the GC at Tirreno Adriatico (finishing 6th), where his compatriot Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe) stole the spotlight by wearing the leader’s jersey and finishing 3rd overall. Among the standout riders of this early season, the young climber is now expected to perform at the Tour of the Alps before riding his third Giro, where he can also aim for a podium finish.

His ambitions and confidence are growing, while João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) is facing some doubts. “Maybe I need to rest a bit, understand what’s not working, and keep working hard for the next goal,” the Portuguese said at the end of March after failing to make an impact at the Volta. His teammate Jay Vine was forced to abandon after a crash, during his comeback in Catalunya following his Tour Down Under win — where he had already fractured a wrist after colliding with a kangaroo.

The third high-profile climber in the Emirati squad, Adam Yates, has not raced since the UAE Tour (15th), following the Tour of Oman, where he was beaten by Christian Scaroni (XDS Astana). The Brit is expected to ride O Gran Camiño in Spain before heading to the Giro. As for the Italian, stage winner last year in San Valentino, he finished 6th at the Trofeo Laigueglia and is now racing punchy classics (Itzulia, Amstel, Flèche, Liège) before returning to the Corsa Rosa, which he animated with attacks last year. He had formed a strong duo with Lorenzo Fortunato, who appears to be building form (8th at Milano-Torino, 14th at the Volta) ahead of the next Giro, where he will defend the Maglia Azzurra as King of the Mountains.

In the puncheur-climber category, hopes are that Jan Christen (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) recovers quickly from his crash at Milano-Sanremo (collarbone fracture), while recent performances from Santiago Buitrago deserve recognition. A stage winner at the Giro in 2022 and 2023, the Colombian opened his season with victory at Trofeo Laigueglia and followed up with solid results at Tirreno-Adriatico (7th) and the Volta (11th), where he finished just behind another dynamic South American, Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), a Giro specialist (winner in 2019, 3rd last year).

In the same race, Australians Ben O’Connor (Jayco AlUla) and Jai Hindley (Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe) appeared slightly off the pace, but experience shows they often peak at their best when lining up at the Giro.

Power surge: Ganna, Milan, Magnier…

While the climbers fine-tune their legs and ambitions, sprinters and time trial specialists are building power. From the Volta ao Algarve to the cobbles of Dwars door Vlaanderen, via Lido di Camaiore (Stage 1 of Tirreno-Adriatico), superstar Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) is piling up victories. Could he also win in Roubaix before targeting more success at the Giro (4 wins in 2020, 2 in 2021, and 1 in 2024)?

His compatriot and friend Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), teammate on the track and rival on the road, is also in great form with six wins this season (2 stages at the AlUla Tour, 3 at the UAE Tour, and 1 at Tirreno-Adriatico). Only Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel have matched that tally this year. Close behind is a surprise contender: Dylan Groenewegen (Unibet Tietema Rockets), already a four-time winner this season, notably at the Tour of Bruges, where he beat Jasper Philipsen. The 32-year-old Dutchman will be his team’s main asset at the Giro, where he has appeared only once (2021, best result: 4th in Novara, Stage 2).

At the Giro, Milan and Groenewegen will battle with Tobias Lund Andresen (Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale) and Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step), both of whom have already taken multiple wins this season — the Dane even triumphed in Italy, in Magliano de’ Marsi (Stage 3 of Tirreno-Adriatico). Britain’s Ethan Vernon (Israel–Premier Tech) opened his account in Catalunya (Stage 4 winner), while Kaden Groves (Alpecin–Deceuninck) and Casper van Uden (Picnic PostNL) are still waiting for their first wins of the year. No need to worry, though: last year, both had zero wins before taking victories in the opening week of the Giro.