A week into the 2026 Giro d'Italia, the peloton tackled its first real high-mountain test, and as expected the GC hopefuls came to the fore on a windy ascent of the Blockhaus climb in Italy's Abruzzo region.
When the proverbial dust had settled on the Cat. 1 summit finish, it was hardly a surprise to see who stood atop the stage podium as pre-race and pre-stage favorite Jonas Vingegaard ascended to the stage 7 victory. Just the same, the way he got there, the riders in his wake, and especially the time gaps – or lack thereof – left plenty of room for discussion.
As Jayco-AlUla sports director Steve Cummings told Escape Collective after the stage: "Often you see [Vingegaard], when he attacks, just taking loads of time, but he attacked, had the punch, and then he didn't really take too much time out of everyone."
Dane Cash