New Italian heroes, Visma-Lease a Bike merch, and Vingegaard's emotions – Maybe not a vintage GC edition, but here's what made this Giro d'Italia special

The men's Giro d'Italia is over for another year, and as riders and everyone in the Giro caravan head home or to the next race, the emotions of the race become memories to remember, moments to savour and problems to forget.

The Giro d'Italia is often chaotic and sometimes confusing, but I love it and embrace it all. Covering the race with Cyclingnews this year, we tried to capture the details of the daily racing, the emotions of the riders and the beauty of Italy. The 2026 Corsa Rosa may not go down in history as a legendary edition of the race, but it was again packed with drama and feel-good moments that only Italy and the Giro can create.

The Tour de France is the biggest race in the sport but the Giro still has its own identity that makes it unique, and it has many different facets. The race may have an official toilet paper and started stage 11 in the brand's factory in Porcari, but it also held a minute's silence before stage 20 to remember the victims of the Friuli earthquake.

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The sprint into Naples was more chaotic than anything at the Tour, the Dolomites are more breathtaking than the Pyrenees, and the finish in the centre of ancient Rome puts Paris and the Champs-Élysees in the shade.

After two weeks on the road with this special race, here are my stand-out reflections from this year's Giro.

Jonas Vingegaard, a Grand Tour winner built on family foundations

We all know that Jonas Vingegaard is a family man, and some have even called it irritating when he kisses a photo of his wife and children on his handlebars and then kisses his wedding ring every time he wins a race, but I certainly don't think that.

Anyone failing to understand just what Vingegaard's family means to him should watch Vingegaard cry as he talks about his family in Rome, observe his happiness to have his children with him on the podium, or the video of his children happily wearing pink jerseys and hugging their dad.

"They mean absolutely everything to me. I would never be able to do this without them. They help me every day. They give me the motivation to do this," he explained.

Pro bike racing is about more than numbers, pain and results. Success is ultimately built on the foundations of family, friends and emotions and that is especially the case with Vingegaard.

As his teammate Victor Campenaerts said in Rome, quoting the 2007 film Into the Wild, "Happiness only exists when shared".

Are you watching, Tadej Pogačar?

UAE Team Emirates-XRG team manager Mauro Gianetti told Cyclingnews that Tadej Pogačar had often watched the Giro d'Italia while training at altitude for the Tour de France this month.

The Slovenian remains the favourite to win his fifth Tour de France but he and UAE will have noticed and surely analysed Vingegaard's performances in Italy.

Their calculations probably confirm what Vingegaard said: he is back to his best and probably even better than ever, with racing the Giro and final altitude training camp in June, likely to improve his numbers even more.

Whether that is enough to defeat Pogačar at this year's Tour remains to be seen. But with support from a strong Visma-Lease a Bike team, Vingegaard seems ready to challenge Pogačar in July.

The 2026 Tour de France will not be a walk in the park for Pogačar as it was in 2024 and 2025. It could be more like 2022, when the combined strength of Vingegaard and his team managed to isolate Pogačar and then crack him.

Viva il Giro d'Italia!

Race organiser RCS Sport are expected to soon announce a new race director to fill the big shoes left by Mauro Vegni. Hopefully the new custodian of the Corsa Rosa can help develop and improve the Giro without losing its unique feel and identity.

The new race director needs to be Italian and Milan-based, a natural leader, someone who loves cycling but also has a global vision and can work with the UCI, the teams and the regions that host the race each May. There is an excellent candidate out there, let's hope RCS Sport have the courage to hire the right person.

Piganzoli and Pellizzari offer Italy a promise of a return to greatness

The Italian statisticians were quick to highlight that the 2026 Giro was the worst for Italian GC riders in the 109 year history of the men's race.

Davide Piganzoli's eighth place and Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Victorious) in ninth made the edition worse than 2020 when Vincenzo Nibali was seventh. It is a small national scandal, even if many sports fans in Italy now prefer to follow the exploits of tennis player Jannik Sinner or the continuous polemics of Serie A football clubs such as Juventus, Milan and Napoli.

The lack of an Italian WorldTour team is often cited as a reason for the recent demise of Italian cycling. Fortunately, Italy can hope for better results in the years to come, with Davide Piganzoli and Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) appearing to be future Grand Tour talents.

They showed it as under-23 riders in races like the Tour de l'Avenir and in their early years as professionals with Visma-Lease a Bike and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, respectively.

Pellizzari's natural exuberance and extroverted character seem perfect for the passionate tifosi, while Piganzoli's seriousness and talents should ensure he goes far. Jonas Vingegaard praised Piganzoli's role in his Giro win and he could even be one of Visma's dedicated leaders for the 2027 Giro. Pellizzari perhaps peaked too early and felt the effects this year, but he is a true Giro contender for the future.

Piganzoli and Pellizzari are neighbours in San Martino and friends away from racing. Their future Grand Tour duels will be fascinating to watch and surely spark a revival in the fortunes of Italian men's cycling.

Visma-Lease a Bike savour victory and sell the merch

Visma-Lease a Bike celebrated their tenth Grand Tour victory in Rome and team manager Richard Plugge again got to wear his garish pink jacket, twelve months after Simon Yates won the Giro.

“We have written history again by winning all three Grand Tours with the first rider in this era,” said Plugge, perhaps hoping the Giro victory will seal the deal with a new title sponsor. Let's hope so.

The team's marketing and merchandising were quick to produce celebratory merch, putting it on sale even before Vingegaard reached the finish line in Rome.

Vingegaard had a special bike to celebrate his Grand Tour trilogy and his teammates rode in a special jersey that includes the designs of the maps of the Tour, Giro and Vuelta with the tag line of 'Woven into history.'

Gino Bartali is perhaps turning in his grave but it's all part of Visma's attention to detail in everything they do and all part of modern sports business.

My personal highlights

As I travel home from the Giro, good memories from this year's race come back to mind, cancelling out the pain of the late nights, poor hotels, testing logistics and the daily battle to capture the race for Cyclingnews.

For me, it was fascinating to see Unibet Rose Rockets fight for a stage win but ultimately fail, exciting to see Jonathan Milan and Lidl-Trek to finally shake off the pressure and turn their race around to celebrate in Rome, and special to witness the natural happiness of the 151 riders and their team staff who made it to Rome and finished their personal Grand Tour.

My other personal highlights from this year's Giro include witnessing Jonas Vingegaard gradually embracing everything that makes the Giro special. He dominated the race for pink and won five mountain finishes but never lost his calm and often smiled during it all.

Italy learnt to admire and appreciate the quiet-speaking 'Re Pescatore' from the north of Denmark, and he embraced the warmth and enthusiasm of Italy. It was a unique cycling cultural exchange, which ended with Vingegaard opting to stay in Rome for a few days. He may think he can quietly visit the Colosseum or enjoy a plate of carbonara pasta and a glass of red wine, but he may be surprised to find out he is the new Emperor of Rome.

On a less positive but equally emotional note, it was painful to watch as Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) fought illness in the second week and pushed himself more than ever to fight for a place on the podium. Like Thymen Arensman, the Australian hates the chaos of the finish area of mountain stages but was often unable to escape when surrounded by a scrum of media, fans and team staff.

Sorry Jai, we just wanted to understand and appreciate the great performances you produced while suffering so much. That's what everyone loves about our sport, and what the Giro delivered once more.

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