A fierce Rubio and a defiant Caruso<\/p>\n
After 17 stages of attacks and counter-attacks, fatigue in the peloton was clearly beginning to show, though that did not prevent a blistering opening hour raced at an average speed of 53.3 km\/h. Between the Passo dei Tre Termini and the Cocca di Lodrino, a 29-man breakaway eventually took shape, featuring Manuele Tarozzi (Bardiani CSF 7 Saber), Jardi Christiaan Van der Lee, Michael Valgren (EF Education\u2013EasyPost), R\u00e9mi Cavagna (Groupama\u2013FDJ United), Enric Mas, Juanpe L\u00f3pez, Einer Rubio, Lorenzo Milesi (Movistar), Aleksandr Vlasov, Mick Van Dijke (Red Bull\u2013BORA\u2013hansgrohe), Gijs Leemreize, Frank Van den Broek (Picnic PostNL), Mattia Bais, Alessandro Tonelli (Polti VisitMalta), Igor Arrieta, Jhonatan Narv\u00e1ez, Jan Christen (UAE Team Emirates\u2013XRG), Niklas Larsen (Unibet Rose Rockets), Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X Mobility), Tobias Bayer (Alpecin\u2013PremierTech), Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious), Giulio Ciccone (Lidl\u2013Trek), Simone Gualdi (Lotto Intermarch\u00e9), Jan Hirt (NSN), David De La Cruz, Mark Donovan (Pinarello Q36.5), Gianmarco Garofoli, Fabio Van den Bossche (Soudal Quick-Step) and Florian Stork (Tudor). The Maglia Rosa group showed little interest in the move, leaving the stage win to be contested among the escapees.<\/p>\n
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R\u00e9mi Cavagna launched a solo move with 117 km remaining and stayed clear until 58 km from the finish, when the rest of the breakaway reeled him back in approaching the intermediate sprint in Roncone. There, Jhonatan Narv\u00e1ez took maximum points \u2014 enough to move the Ecuadorian back into the virtual Maglia Ciclamino. From that moment on, cohesion at the front completely disappeared, with repeated accelerations on the rolling roads towards Andalo further reducing the size of the lead group.<\/p>\n
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In the end, only eight riders remained at the front: Caruso, Valgren, L\u00f3pez, Rubio, Vlasov, Garofoli, Arrieta and Leknessund. Caruso used all his experience, but on the climb towards the timed ascent of Andalo-Lever, the strongest legs appeared to belong to Valgren, and above all Rubio. The Colombian failed to shake off the Dane and, with 2 km to go, Caruso, Leknessund, Vlasov and Arrieta bridged back across. The Sicilian tried to anticipate the sprint, but the decisive move came from Valgren \u2014 a rider whose palmar\u00e8s already includes an Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, an Amstel Gold Race, and a World Championship bronze medal \u2014 who stunned his rivals with a perfectly timed attack right beneath the flamme rouge.<\/p>\n
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The victory of Michael Valgren<\/p>\n
This marks the second victory of the season for Valgren after his success in Mombaroccio at Tirreno Adriatico. And the Giro continues to be painted in Danish colours: across the 2025 and 2026 editions, Denmark has now collected 10 stage wins (4 for Mads Pedersen, 1 for Kasper Asgreen, 4 for Jonas Vingegaard, and 1 for Michael Valgren).<\/p>\n
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