Giro d'Italia 2026 stage 11 preview: Into the Ligurian hills

Date: Wednesday, May 20
Distance: 195km
Start location: Porcari
Finish location: Chiavari
Start time: 11:20 BST / 12:20 CEST / 06:20 EDT
Finish time (approx.): 16:16 BST / 17:16 CEST / 11:16 EDT

Afonso Eulálio survived Tuesday's time trial to retain the maglia rosa by 27 seconds over Jonas Vingegaard, and the GC battle remains very much alive heading into the Ligurian hills. But Wednesday is also a day suitable for the breakaway hunters.

At 195 kilometres and featuring 2,850 metres of climbing, Stage 11 runs from Tuscany to Liguria, with most of the climbing packed into the second half before the final climb tops out 12.6 kilometres from the finish in the coastal town of Chiavari. After a flat opener, the route follows the Tuscan coast northward to La Spezia where the second half becomes considerably more demanding as it crosses the Cinque Terre with the climbs of Passo del Termine and Colle di Gualtarola. Two short climbs follow – Colla dei Scioli and the uncategorised Cogorno – the latter cresting 13km from the finish with a time bonus sprint at its summit, leaving a fast, frantic run to Chiavari.

Giro d'Italia 2026 stage 11 profile

Giro d'Italia 2026 stage 11 profile (RCS)

Contenders

With the maglia rosa group likely content to manage the day after the exertions of the time trial, it is likely that the breakaway of the day will fight it out for the stage win.

The man who has been waiting for his moment is Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek). He has yet to win at this Giro but the Italian is a natural for a stage like this – a rider who can climb, descend fast and sprint from a reduced group. This Ligurian terrain suits him perfectly and he will be desperate to get a result in front of a home crowd.

Read more: 'A very, very good try': Lidl-Trek's Giro of near misses continues

Jan Christen (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) hasn’t won either but has looked strong. His teammates Jhonatan Narváez and Igor Arrieta have taken stages. A stage with punchy climbs and a technical finale suits all three of them. 

Magnus Sheffield (Netcompany Ineos) is another name to watch – the young Ineos rider is well suited to a day that demands climbing legs and a sharp finish, and after Filippo Ganna’s TT win, the team arrive here with confidence. 

Michael Valgren (EF Education-EasyPost) won a similar stage in Tirreno-Adriatico and will fancy his chances if he can make the right move early. Movistar’s trio of Javier Romo, Lorenzo Milesi and Einer Rubio, have been active so far in breaks. 

XDS Astana's Christian Scaroni remains a threat, and because he lost significant time on the TT could be allowed to go in the day’s breakaway. His teammate Diego Ulissi, an eight-time Giro stage winner, knows these roads well and should never be discounted on a profile like this. Another Astana man, Guillermo Thomas Silva won stage two and could be threat, as could the man second on that day Florian Stork (Tudor Procycling).

Also look out for Koen Bouwman (Jayco AlUla), Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto Intermarché), Gianmarco Garofoli and Filippo Zana (Soudal Quick-Step) and Wout Poels (Unibet Rose Rockets).

Read more: Wout Poels is guiding Unibet Rose Rockets through their first Grand Tour: 'We're not here to go from A to B'

Prediction

With the climbs of the Cinque Terre finally giving him the terrain he needs, we think Giulio Ciccone will animate the race and take his first stage win of this Giro in Chiavari.