Jonas Vingegaard all but secured overall victory at the Giro d'Italia on Saturday, powering to a solo win on the penultimate stage atop Piancavallo. The Danish rider extended his lead to more than five minutes over Felix Gall, with Jai Hindley remaining in third place, 6min 25sec behind. Sunday's final stage, a largely processional ride starting and ending in Rome, will see Vingegaard officially crowned champion.
Vingegaard, 29, made his decisive move with 10.6km remaining of the final climb, swiftly catching and passing all breakaway riders to win the 200km stage from Gemona del Friuli. Gall edged out Hindley in a sprint for second place, 1min 15sec behind. It was Vingegaard's fifth stage victory in this year's race, and he celebrated by kissing a photograph of his family on his handlebars, his wedding ring, and raising his arms as he crossed the line.
The victory makes Vingegaard the eighth male rider to win all three Grand Tours, having previously won the Tour de France in 2022 and 2023, and the Spanish Vuelta last year. This is his first participation in the Giro, and he has dominated as pre-race favourite. His attention will now turn to the Tour de France, as he attempts to become the ninth man to complete the Giro-Tour double.
“I’m a cyclist, I like to win, I want to win as many races as possible and we decided to go for it again today,” Vingegaard said. “Today was the last day in the mountains so everything would be decided, so we decided to go all-in for the stage. The boys did amazing again today, I had an amazing day also and to now win five stages here and to have a solid lead going into tomorrow is special for me.”
