Only 151 of the 184 original starters of the Giro d'Italia completed the race in Rome on Sunday.
The final stage saw one rider drop out before the start, Picnic-PostNL's Sean Flynn.
It was the first abandon since stage 19 when Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) dropped out after injuring his hand when he ran into a bus after the previous day's stage.
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Before the stage, EF Education-EasyPost made the controversial decision to pull stage winner Michael Valgren and James Shaw from the race, while Ethan Vernon (NSN) also abandoned due to a crash during stage 19.
His team announced, "Ethan Vernon was taken to hospital with abrasions to his face and body. He was conscious, and initial checks showed no major issues."
There have been five stages without riders abandoning: stage 1 in Bulgaria and stages 7, 9, 10 and 13.
However, there have been more departures since then. Christian Scaroni abandoned on stage 14, with his XDS Astana team reporting that he suffered "acute laryngotracheitis with fever that occurred overnight."
A pair of nasty crashes on the first three stages in Bulgaria took a big toll, with UAE Team Emirates-XRG the worst affected, losing Adam Yates, Jay Vine and Marc Soler – though they've since won two stages.
The team of the overall favourite Jonas Vingegaard are also down in numbers after Wilco Kelderman (Visma-Lease a Bike) didn't make it to the start line on the morning of stage 4, needing time to recover from injuries sustained in a stage 2 crash.
Several sprinters have also been forced out, with Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Premier Tech) quitting with injury, and Lotto Intermarché pair Arnaud De Lie and Milan Menten suffering from an illness likely caused by cowpats on the road in a race before the Giro.
Most riders started the race intending to get to Rome, but as the three-week race takes its toll, not everyone will get there, with tens of riders often dropping out over the 21 stages of a Grand Tour.
Riders may abandon for a variety of reasons, including crashes, illness, or just pure fatigue. Riders can quit mid-stage, climbing into a car or ambulance, or they may decide not to start the next stage.
If a rider stops mid-stage, they will be marked as 'did not finish' (DNF), whilst DNS stands for 'did not start'.
Riders can also be obliged to leave the race by the commissaires, either with a disqualification (DSQ) for serious rule infringements, or for finishing outside the time limit on a given stage (OTL).
Here, we will track all the riders who drop out of the 2026 Giro on the roads between Bulgaria and Rome.
Giro d'Italia 2026 abandons
Stage 2
Stage 3
Stage 4
- Wilco Kelderman (Visma-Lease a Bike) – DNS, injuries from stage 2 crash
- Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Intermarché) - DNF, illness
- Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Premier Tech) - DNF, injuries from stage 1 crash
Stage 5
- Milan Menten (Lotto Intermarché) – DNS, illness
- Timo de Jong (Pincic-PostNL) - DNF, injuries
- Joshua Giddings (Lotto Intermarché) - DNF
- Samuele Battistella (EF Education-EasyPost) - DNF, injuries
Stage 6
- Felix Engelhardt (Jayco AlUla) - DNS
Stage 8
- Fabio Christen (Pinarello-Q36.5) – DNF, crash
- Jake Stewart (NSN) – DNF, lingering injuries from stage 2 crash
Stage 11
- Davide Ballerini (XDS Astana) - DNF
- Martin Tjøtta (Uno-X Mobility) - DNF
- Edward Planckaert (Alpecin-Premier Tech) - DNF
- Erlend Blikra (Uno-X Mobility) - OTL
Stage 12
- Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto-Intermarché) - DNS, broken finger
- Sjoerd Bax (Pinarello-Q36.5) - DNS
- Javier Romo (Movistar) - DNF
Stage 14
- Christian Scaroni (XDS-Astana), DNF, illness
Stage 15
Stage 16
- Pascal Ackermann (Jayco-AlUla) - DNS, illness
Stage 17
- Nickolas Zukowsky (Pinarello-Q36.5) - DNF, crash injuries
Stage 19
- Jhonatan Narvaez (UAE Team Emirates) - DNF, injuries from crash
- Ethan Vernon (NSN) - DNF
- James Shaw (EF) - DNS
- Michael Valgren (EF) - DNS
Stage 21
- Sean Flynn (Picnic-PostNL) - DNS
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