Goodbye Giro, hello Dauphiné. The race has been given a new name; I have a feeling must of us will still be calling it the Dauphiné for many years to come. The organisers have decided to bash out one of the most challenging parcours I’ve seen for a very long time, some of these stages are crazy hard. Taking to the start line will be Paul Seixas, returning to racing after a sensational first part of the season. If he produces another good performance, the hype will be off the scale as we approach the Tour de France.

Rome > Rome 131km The final stage of the Giro. I’ve been thinking about this year’s race, I’ve not enjoyed it. One of my favourite ever Giro stages was the Torino stage back in 2022 when Simon Yates took the win, I’d love to see that type of stage added back into the race. We did get a muro stage, but it wasn’t hard enough to see any GC action. I think the trend of dumbing down the race in order to tease riders into doing the Giro/Tour double is a bad one, in future, I’d love to see the...

Gemona del Friuli 1976-2026 > Piancavallo 201km The final mountain stage of the 2026 Giro d’Italia. Today was crazy, Kuss took an incredible win, Ciccone just about secured the KOM jersey and Hindley moved onto the podium. Will this stage be a little calmer?

Feltre > Alleghe (Piani di Pezzè) 151km The Queen stage of the 2026 Giro d’Italia. Just 151km but with over 4800m of climbing, this is a brutal, brutal stage. The pink jersey looks secure on the shoulders of Jonas Vingegaard, but the battle for the podium and KOM jersey is still raging on. Strap yourself in, this is a big day.

Fai della Paganella > Pieve di Solito 169km Stage 18 and the return of an old friend, Muro di Ca’ del Poggio. This little beauty has featured in many Giro stages, but quite often it’s early in the stage and doesn’t matter too much. The last time it was close to the finish was all the way back in 2014 when Stefano Pirazzi (remember him?) won from the break ahead of Tim Wellens and Jay McCarthy. 

Cassano d’Adda > Andalo 202km Another day for the breakaway. It looks like a classic grand tour transition stage to me. Over 200km and 3000m of climbing, if this stage was a stand-alone race, it would be controlled and end up in some type of sprint but place it in the 3rd week of a grand tour and it should be a good day for the attackers.

Bellinzona > Carì 113km The Giro enters the final week, and heads to Switzerland. Pink looks certain to be going to Vingegaard, Gall is looking good for 2nd, 3rd place is up for grabs with Arensman and Hindley set to battle it out. Vingegaard also has a huge lead in the KOM jersey, the best fight looks like being between Magnier and Narváez for the sprint jersey. Stage 16 is the shortest stage of the race, just 113km is very unusual for a grand tour.

Voghera > Milan 157km 2 weeks into the Giro and we’ve only had 3 big sprints, and one of them was ruined by a late crash, it’s been slim pickings for the fast men. With a challenging final week to come, this might be their final opportunity before Rome, some of the sprinters might decide to head home after this one.

Aosta > Pila (Gressan) 133km Climbing from the gun, something that grand tour organisers have shied away from in recent years, I’m delighted to see an early climb in this big stage. It gives climbers the opportunity to be in the break and there’s always a chance it teases out an early move by someone sitting outside the top 5 on GC. The stage is only 133km, I can see about 30km of flat road, which also increases the chances of an early move by someone with eyes on the podium in Rome.

Alessandria > Verbania 189km Movistar did what they thought was best today, blowing the peloton to pieces, but Segaert nipped off the front in the final 2km to take the win, very reminiscent of Cancellara. Now it’s stage 13 and a very interesting finale.