Giro d'Italia 2026 stage 14 preview: Italian Alps set the stage for GC raids

Date: Saturday, May 23
Distance: 133km
Start location: Aosta
Finish location: Pila
Start time: 11:55 BST / 12:55 CEST / 06:55 EDT
Finish time (approx.): 16:15 BST / 17:15 CEST / 11:15 EDT

It’s GC crunch time on stage 14 of this year’s Giro d'Italia, with four categorised climbs packing 4,350 metres of climbing into just 133 kilometres. A couple of days have passed since the last major GC reshuffle after stage 10’s time trial, but as the race ascends into the Alps, a continuous sequence of climbs and descents between Aosta and Pila should have a profound impact on who will wear the maglia rosa on May 30th in Rome. Things kick off immediately with the ascent of Saint-Barthélémy (15.7 kilometres at 6.2 percent), before the back-to-back climbs of Lin Noir and Verrogne. The race concludes with a final 16.6 kilometre ramp up to the summit of Pila, consisting of 20 hairpins and a 7 percent average. Ouch.

Giro d'Italia 2026 stage 14 profile

Giro d'Italia 2026 stage 14 profile (RCS)

Contenders

All roads lead to a Jonas Vingegaard win on stage 14, whose Visma-Lease a Bike teammates will be wanting to control the chaos before their leader strikes. Vingegaard’s stage seven victory atop the Blockhaus came as no surprise, and a repeat in Pila will likely put the Dane in the maglia rosa. The steep ramps of the Alps should do most of the work for him, so expect an attack on the lower slopes of that final climb. The Visma rider has survived crashes and carnage to get to this point in the race, and hopefully has overcome rumoured illness to run riot on Saturday’s stage.

Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) showed on stage seven why he could be the Vingegaard’s closest GC rival going into the final week: the Austrian rider finished just 13 seconds behind, and should thrive on the gruelling gradients of stage 14 having won the queen stage of the 2023 Tour de France. 

The Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe duo of Jai Hindley and Giulio Pelizzari will be looking to revive their GC hopes after losing time against the clock on stage 9. Hindley put in a strong performance on Blockhaus to finish fourth behind Gall, and will be looking to make an impact going into the key mountain stages as a rider who tends to grow into a Grand Tour. 

Thymen Arensman (Netcompany Ineos) will be under pressure to defend the gains he made on Tuesday’s TT, with two minutes between him and current GC leader Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain-Victorious), who will also be fighting to remain on the podium. Meanwhile Lidl-Trek field Derek Gee-West, who currently sits fourth in GC, and climbing specialist Guilio Ciccone – one to watch particularly if there’s a break in the earlier shorter climb to Doues. Ben O’Connor should also produce a big ride on this decisive stage for Jayco-AlUla. 

Enric Mas (Movistar) just missed out on a win during stage 11 to UAE’s Jhonatan Narváez, and proved he had the legs to stay in the break over the climbs of stage 12, along with his teammate Einer Rubio. 

Few others make the cut for such a gruelling stage: look out for Wout Poels (Unibet Rose Rockets), Mathys Rondel  and Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling), Jan Hirt (NSN Cycling Team), and Chris Harper (Pinarello-Q36.5).

Prediction

No mountain is too steep for Jonas Vingegaard, who will surely take victory in Pila.