The main GC favourites for the 2026 Giro d'Italia

Last year, Visma | Lease a Bike claimed the Giro trophy with a decisive coup on the Colle delle Finestre in Stage 20, orchestrated by Simon Yates. While the Dutch team is once again expected to be in contention for overall victory, it is unlikely that this year’s race will unfold in the same dramatic fashion.

This time, the team lines up with the outright favorite in its ranks: Jonas Vingegaard. Following his victory at the Vuelta a España last year, the 29-year-old Dane now has the opportunity to complete a Grand Tour treble in Italy and join an elite group that includes Eddy Merckx (Belgium), Bernard Hinault (France), Jacques Anquetil (France), Felice Gimondi (Italy), Alberto Contador (Spain), Vincenzo Nibali (Italy) and Chris Froome (Great Britain).

Vingegaard has enjoyed a strong start to the season, securing dominant victories at Paris-Nice and the Volta a Catalunya. He can be considered the strongest general classification contender, both in the mountains and against the clock.

He is also supported by a formidable team, featuring talisman Sepp Kuss, trusted lieutenant Victor Campenaerts, as well as Wilco Kelderman, Bart Lemmen, Timo Kielich, Tim Rex and Davide Piganzoli.

The key question is how Vingegaard will approach the race. Former winner Vincenzo Nibali expects a calculated strategy. “I think Vingegaard will try to make a difference early, especially on the first summit finishes,” he told LaGazzetta dello Sport, pointing to key stages such as Blockhaus. “After that, it will depend on how much time he gains. He might then focus on controlling the race.”

All of this comes with a clear secondary objective in mind: the showdown with Tadej Pogačar at the Tour de France. The team has already indicated that this build up is a deliberate choice, based on data suggesting the Dane is likely to perform better in July with a Grand Tour already in his legs.

A crucial factor, however, will be ensuring that Vingegaard does not have to push himself to the limit every single day. From that perspective, both the rider and the team are unlikely to be disappointed by the withdrawal of João Almeida, who was widely seen as one of his most serious rivals.

Giulio Pellizzari (22), nicknamed the ‘Duke of Camerino’, has underlined his credentials for the Giro d'Italia with a breakthrough performance at the Tour of the Alps, where he claimed overall victory in commanding fashion. That result came on the back of an already impressive third place at Tirreno-Adriatico, confirming that the Italian is building momentum.

It marks a clear step forward from 2025, when he finished sixth at both the Giro and the Vuelta a España. In Italy, he initially rode in support of Primož Roglič, only stepping into a freer role after the Slovenian’s withdrawal, a shift that hinted at his potential as a leader.

With that background, Pellizzari can be viewed as one of the most credible challengers to Jonas Vingegaard, particularly given his evident mental progression and growing self belief.

“It’s really different when you have to perform,” he said to Domestique after his victory in the Alps. “Last year, I was just a helper, and I started races hoping that I would perform. Today, I had no choice; I had to perform. This makes a difference. Now I understand what it means to be a leader. When you have a team working for you, you can’t just say, ‘I don’t have the legs.’”

That mindset may prove decisive as he looks to take the next step and position himself as the successor to Vincenzo Nibali, the last Italian winner of the Giro. 

Nibali himself has expressed confidence in his compatriot, telling La Gazzetta dello Sport: “He has real talent. He is improving step by step. This year, I think his goal can be a top three.”

With the withdrawal of Almeida and the absence of Pogačar and Isaac del Toro due to their focus on the Tour de France, leadership at UAE falls to Adam Yates. In recent years, the Brit has often been Pogačar's final support rider in the high mountains at the Tour, contributing to his own strong general classification results, including third place in 2023 and sixth in 2024.

However, it has been some time since Yates last fully focused on leading a Grand Tour campaign. Even at last year’s Giro, where he finished 12th, he mostly rode in support of Isaac del Toro rather than for his own result.

Yates recently claimed a victory at O Gran Camiño and finished third at the Tour of Oman. Still, a much higher level will be required to challenge Vingegaard, and it remains to be seen whether the 33-year-old can deliver that. He will likely need to gain time in the mountains, as he is expected to lose ground to Vingegaard in the time trial.

As an alternative, UAE could turn to Jay Vine. However, questions remain over his condition following his now well known crash involving a kangaroo, which resulted in a broken wrist, as well as a second crash at the Volta a Catalunya. Moreover, Vine has yet to prove himself as a Grand Tour GC contender, making a role as a stage hunter or a bid for the mountains classification a more realistic objective.

“The dream? Definitely to get on the podium. That’s what I’m working for.” Derek Gee-West has been clear about his ambitions. The Canadian has long felt a strong connection to the Giro d’Italia.

“The Giro has always been my favourite Grand Tour, ever since I watched it as a kid,” Gee said to RCS. “It has a special place in my heart, and it’s the race where I really made a name for myself.”

In 2023, he emerged as one of the revelations of the race, finishing second on four stages and placing runner up in both the points and mountains classifications, all without having taken a professional victory beforehand. Last year, he shifted his focus toward the general classification and came close to the podium with fourth place overall, confirming his credentials as a serious stage race contender.

His build up to this year’s Giro d’Italia has been far from straightforward. After eight months without racing due to a contractual dispute, Derek Gee returned at the UAE Tour, where he finished seventh, before abandoning the Volta a Catalunya with physical issues.

In his final test ahead of the Giro, Gee placed 12th at the Tour of the Alps. Not a standout result on paper, but one that needs context. He had already made it clear that, after Catalunya, the focus was on progression rather than immediate results.

“The goal is entirely just process based this week,” he told Domestique. “Hopefully I feel better on stage 5 than I do on stage 1. If that’s the case, then it’s trending in the right direction for the Giro.”

If the 28-year-old Gee can return to the level he showed in 2025, he should be considered a genuine contender for a top five finish, and potentially more.

Few riders arrive at the Giro d'Italia with a story as compelling as Bernal’s. Five years on from his overall victory and four years removed from his life threatening crash, the 29-year-old Colombian is once again edging towards the level that made him a Grand Tour winner.

His second place at the Tour of the Alps was his most convincing performance in years, confirming both his climbing level and his ability to manage efforts across a full week of racing. After the race, he told Domestique he was satisfied with his level: “I think I’m better than I was this time last year, but the Giro is a different race.”

His preparation has not been seamless. A knee issue ruled him out of races like Tirreno-Adriatico and the Volta a Catalunya, but Bernal has often shown he can build into form as a Grand Tour progresses and also acknowledged the importance of it. “The important thing is to be good in the last week of the Giro," he said.

In 2025, Egan Bernal rode both the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España, finishing seventh and seventeenth respectively, placing him just outside the very top tier. The question now is whether he can take the next step this year.

Matching Vingegaard across all terrains will be difficult, particularly against the clock, but Bernal’s resilience in the high mountains and his experience make him a credible podium contender. With Thymen Arensman as a second leader, Ineos also have the tactical flexibility to take the race on.

No one in the peloton doubts that Thymen Arensman has the talent to contend for a Grand Tour podium. However, the Dutchman has yet to consistently align his physical condition with the right mental state to deliver top performances over three weeks.

Last year, he also started the Giro as one of the team leaders, but things went wrong immediately. In the opening stage, he already lost a minute and a half to his rivals. Looking back, he spoke candidly about the underlying issues.

“It’s really a battle with myself. I don’t know if I should call it trauma, but when you start thinking you can’t do it, it becomes a kind of self fulfilling prophecy. I think that’s what’s happening. I work myself up so much and want it so badly that it backfires,” he told In de Leiderstrui. “It sounds heavy to talk about demons in your head, but it becomes very difficult to stay calm when you’re fighting yourself. I was so nervous for that first stage.”

Despite that setback, he managed to fight his way back into the top ten before a crash in Stage 16 derailed his race. From that point on, he could no longer match the best climbers, eventually finishing 29th overall.

At the Tour de France, Arensman bounced back in emphatic fashion, claiming two stage victories in the mountains. His second win, on the climb to La Plagne, was particularly impressive, as he dropped both Vingegaard and Pogačar and managed to hold them off despite the Dane’s attempts to chase him down.

The key question, then, is whether the 26 years old can handle the pressure over the course of this Grand Tour. Physically, he appears to be in strong shape, highlighted by a third place at the Tour of the Alps, as well as solid earlier results with 15th at Tirreno Adriatico and ninth at the Volta ao Algarve.

Arensman’s real strength, however, lies in his engine and his ability to perform deep into the final week of a Grand Tour, when accumulated fatigue begins to play a decisive role.

Jai Hindley and the Giro d'Italia share a bit of history. We all remember the COVID affected 2020 edition, when Hindley sat in the top three alongside his Sunweb teammate Wilco Kelderman as the peloton faced the brutal Stelvio Pass. Under the pace set by Rohan Dennis of Ineos Grenadiers, riding in support of Tao Geoghegan Hart, Kelderman was dropped, and Hindley chose to follow the Ineos duo.

That decision ultimately handed Hindley the pink jersey from Kelderman, but in the final time trial he could not match Geoghegan Hart, who went on to take the overall victory.

In 2022, however, Hindley got his redemption. After a tightly contested Giro, he seized control on the penultimate stage, dropping Richard Carapaz and securing his first Grand Tour title.

Since that victory, the 29-year-old Hindley has recorded a seventh place in the Tour de France of 2023 and a fourth place in the Vuelta a España last year. The key question now is how his role will compare to that of teammate Giulio Pellizzari. A strong overall position for the Italian could significantly reshape Hindley’s responsibilities within the team.

This is especially relevant given that the Australian’s recent results, a 22nd place in Tirreno-Adriatico and a 17th place in the Volta a Catalunya, do not match the level currently shown by the young Italian.

5th at the Tour of the Alps, 4th at the Tour de Suisse, 5th at the Tour de France, 8th at the Vuelta a España, 5th at the UAE Tour and 6th at the Volta a Catalunya underline Felix Gall’s remarkable consistency in his last stage races. When Felix Gall (28) lines up, a top eight finish is almost guaranteed.

The Austrian rider of Decathlon CMA CGM had long been the team’s undisputed general classification leader, but the rapid rise of Paul Seixas and the signing of Matthew Riccitello mean he no longer holds that position alone. This year, it means he will focus on the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a España, whereas in recent years the Tour de France had been his main target.

Gall himself is firmly focused on taking the next step in his career. “It’s true, last season was very good, but I think there’s still room for improvement,” he told RCS Sport.

“With the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a España, things change a bit, and the goal is to try to finish on the podium in at least one of the two races. That’s the next step I’ve set for myself in my career, and I believe this could be the right year to achieve it.”

In a field that is not particularly stacked with top contenders, this year’s Giro could offer him a genuine opportunity to deliver on that ambition.