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Team Visma Lease a Bike Danish rider Jonas Vingegaard wearing the overall leader’s pink jersey holds the trophy as he celebrates on the podium after winning the Giro d’Italia 2026 – Tour of Italy cycling race between Rome and Rome, Italy, on May 31, 2026. (AFP)
Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard won the 2026 Giro d’Italia on Sunday to clinch his fourth Grand Tour title, having also won the Tour de France twice before his triumph at the Vuelta a Espana last year.
The Visma-Lease a Bike rider, competing at the Giro for the first time, effectively secured the pink jersey on Saturday when he launched a decisive attack during the climb to Piancavallo on stage 20, extending his overall lead to more than five minutes ahead of second-placed Felix Gall.
Frenchman Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-step), who won three stages, prevailed in the points classification.
The final stage in Rome concluded with a sprint as Italian Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) thrilled his home crowd with a spectacular attack to win the stage.
Vingegaard, 29, finished the race soon after, surrounded by his teammates, as he became the eighth man to win all three Grand Tours, and the first from Denmark.
“It’s amazing. It’s something I dreamed of my whole life,” an emotional Vingegaard said.
“It’s a special day for me… I am lost for words.”
Team Visma Lease a Bike Danish rider Jonas Vingegaard C) wearing the overall leader’s pink jersey and winner of the Giro d’Italia 2026 – Tour of Italy cycling race poses on podium with second placed Decathlon CMA CGM Team Austrian rider Felix Gall (L) and third placed Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe Australian rider Jai Hindley, after the 21th and last stage in Rome, Italy, on May 31, 2026. (Photo by Luca Bettini / AFP)
The race, a 3,459-km journey that started in Nessebar, Bulgaria, on May 8, ended with a 131-km final stage in Rome, including eight laps of a 9.5-km circuit.
Vingegaard and his teammates celebrated as they began the final stage in Rome, posing for pictures, distributing sweets among race staff and ceremonially riding in the front along with local favourite Giulio Ciccone of Lidl-Trek, who won the mountains classification.
Afonso Eulalio, in the white jersey for the best young rider of the race, also celebrated with his Bahrain Victorious teammates, as the Portuguese 24-year-old finished sixth after holding the overall lead for nine stages until Vingegaard overtook him in the 14th stage.
MILAN WINS IN ROME
As the peloton entered the circuit, early attacks from Nico Denz, Remy Rochas and Tobias Bayer proved to be ineffective as the peloton remained just over 10 seconds behind them.
Going into the final lap, it was two Italians, Filippo Ganna and Matteo Sobrero, charging down the front with Belgian Jasper Stuyven close behind, with a 19-second lead over the peloton.
But with three kilometres left, Lukas Kubis led the way as the peloton caught up with the breakaway group. Then, in the final kilometre, Milan scampered to the front to clinch his only stage win of the race.
Vingegaard, who had to celebrate his Vuelta a Espana win in a car park after the final stage was cut short by anti-Israel protests, was met by his family at the finish.
“It gives me tears in my eyes. They are always there for me,” Vingegaard said, as his voice broke.
Vingegaard, who has earned five straight top-two finishes in the Tour de France, will challenge for his third title in the race when it begins on July 4.
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