OFFICIAL Stage 1 Results
Laurens De Jong
Hello, Giro d'Italia Gamers!
“Goedemiddag, dames en heren. Welkom, beste Girovolgers. Wielerliefhebbers, welkom bij Eurosport voor een prachtige reis door het mooiste land ter wereld.” Those were the words Jeroen van Bellegem said to start today’s broadcast and, boy, has it been a long eleven months’ wait for me to hear him say that.
STAGE Grade: B-
I rate today’s stage an B-. I’m not a fan of stages in non-cycling countries like Albania last year, Bulgaria this year. And with the ridiculousness of the final five kilometers, Bulgaria hasn’t vindicated themselves. But okay. The big crash was a surprise, elevating today’s stage to a passing grade.
Route: 2/5 GC: 1/5 Tactics: 1/5 Sprint: 2/5 Surprises: 4/5
If you’ve ever watched a pro race yourself you know this: the peloton at speed is just a mass of vaguely cyclist-shaped blurs. That’s what I was thinking in the final kilometers, the speed of the pro cycling peloton. It’s hard to wrap your head around it, unless you’ve seen it, or if you’ve ever tried to ride 65 kilometers an hour.
At those speeds — our coach Lucas Wall said it on Sunday: if you’re fast, you’re not smart. The pro cyclists are smarter than the average human being, even when fast. But when I saw the road narrow and those horrible fences, I didn’t think they would outsmart the street.
They didn’t.
A narrower road near the finish line doesn’t have to be dangerous. In fact, it’s usually the wider, open stretches where danger lurks. Too wide means no restraints, any cowboy can make a move and take down the peloton. When there’s fewer lanes, the sprint trains seem to regulate themselves, more disciplined, less dangerous.
But those fences! The riders can’t regulate that. One second there space in the gutter, then there’s a fence post sticking out. It had to go wrong and it did. It ruined a great sprint, let’s hope it didn’t ruin any riders’ chances.
Soudal – Quick-Step has a very strong lead-out train for Paul Magnier. Even without the crash, they were probably going to win. I say that, but he was almost beaten today by Tobias Lund Andresen. Almost, but not really, so I stick with what I said: Magnier’s lead-out train looks strong, and this isn’t his last victory in the 2026 Giro d’Italia.
I thought Jonathan Milan had missed the boat in the sprint today. It looked like Andresen jumped just as Milan was looking away. But he himself said he simply didn’t have the legs. I can’t argue with a pro cyclist, so I’ll take his word for it. If he’s right, I do hope he gets his legs sorted out soon. Milan has an improbable record: three grand tours, three points victories. The Giro in 2023 and 2024, and the Tour de France in 2025. A 100% record of success.
The boys at Polti-VisitMalta and Bardiani CSF 7 Saber understand their assignments. At kilometer 0 of the 2026 Giro d’Italia, two riders left the peloton. None of the other 182 riders were interested in joining them.
A missed opportunity. It is rare that only the minor teams break away in stage 1 of a grand tour: everyone wants to wear the KOM jersey at the start of stage 2. But not today, only our focus team and their nemesis joined the attack.
If they hadn’t decided it at kilometer 0, they decided it soon after: Manuele Tarozzi for the sprint points, and our rider Diego Pablo Sevilla for the KOM points. For 124 kilometers, they rode in front of the peloton. Every intermediate finish line went uncontested: Sevilla took both KOM sprints, Tarozzi everything else.
“We’ve just spent half an hour figuring out what the various rules are,”
said Patrick Broe of the Lanterne Rouge cycling podcast, of the sprint
competitions in the Giro. “That’s my favorite part of the Giro.”
And you thought I was the only one!
They came close to splitting the prize money among them, today, did Sevilla and
Tarozzi. Sevilla did better because he gets 700 euros for the most mountain
points today and another 750 for wearing the blue jersey tomorrow. One goes
with the other, but okay. Another 400 euros for second place in the traguardo
volante, the intermediate sprint, and 1500 euros for second in the Red Bull
KM sprint. That’s 3,550 euros. A day in the life of a pro cyclist racing for a
minor Italian team.
Tarozzi earned 400 euros for the second most mountain points today, 500 euros in the traguardo volante and 2,500 euros: 3,400 euros. I think either or both of them also earned the 200 euros for the longest breakaway, but I couldn’t find that in the results.
All that, and 124 points for Sevilla in the fuga competition. In 2025, our Polti-VisitMalta boys won that competition, and Tarozzi won the traguardi volanti competition. The 2026 race for both prizes is on again. Tradition.
First place on the day for Team Sam. They beat out Team Amalia. The difference between them? Bizarrely: Marc Soler. He was the first of the riders to get going again after the crash. Soler in 12th place in a bunch sprint stage. This is not something we see every day.
Third place was for Team Tadej. Then there’s a gap to Team Grace and Team Ansel. The rest missed the boat today: Team Charles in sixth, Team Hugo in seventh, Team Felix in eighth.
Stage 2 isn’t quite a sprint stage. It’s not out of the question that someone like Kaden Groves can stay with the leaders over the three climbs. But it’s not likely, either. Unless someone wants to shake up the general classification, I think this is a Jhonatan Narváez kind of day. His biggest enemy: the rain, and the cobblestone sectors in the final kilometers.
Standings after stage 1:
|
Rank |
Name |
Points |
WAS |
MOVES |
|
1 |
Team Sam* |
146 |
1 |
0 |
|
2 |
Team Amalia* |
137 |
1 |
-1 |
|
3 |
Team Tadej* |
113 |
1 |
-2 |
|
4 |
Team Grace* |
93 |
1 |
-3 |
|
5 |
Team Ansel* |
85 |
1 |
-4 |
|
6 |
Team Charles* |
49 |
1 |
-5 |
|
7 |
Team Hugo* |
30 |
1 |
-6 |
|
8 |
Team Felix* |
9 |
1 |
-7 |
Standings after stage 1 (including adults):
|
Rank |
Name |
Points |
WAS |
MOVES |
|
1 |
Team Zach |
151 |
1 |
0 |
|
2 |
Team Sam* |
146 |
1 |
-1 |
|
Team Craig |
146 |
1 |
-1 |
|
|
4 |
Team Amalia* |
137 |
1 |
-3 |
|
5 |
Team Julie |
132 |
1 |
-4 |
|
Team Laurens |
132 |
1 |
-4 |
|
|
7 |
Team Corsa |
115 |
1 |
-6 |
|
8 |
Team Tadej* |
113 |
1 |
-7 |
|
9 |
Team Roslyn |
102 |
1 |
-8 |
|
10 |
Team Grace* |
93 |
1 |
-9 |
|
11 |
Team Doug |
91 |
1 |
-10 |
|
12 |
Team Ansel* |
85 |
1 |
-11 |
|
Team Paul |
85 |
1 |
-11 |
|
|
14 |
Team Kent |
82 |
1 |
-13 |
|
15 |
Team Amelia |
77 |
1 |
-14 |
|
16 |
Team Charles* |
49 |
1 |
-15 |
|
17 |
Team Jake |
40 |
1 |
-16 |
|
18 |
Team Adam |
35 |
1 |
-17 |
|
19 |
Team Kate |
34 |
1 |
-18 |
|
20 |
Team Rob |
30 |
1 |
-19 |
|
Team Hugo* |
30 |
1 |
-19 |
|
|
22 |
Team Jonwaine |
14 |
1 |
-21 |
|
23 |
Team Felix* |
9 |
1 |
-22 |
|
24 |
Team Kari |
0 |
1 |
-23 |
Complete breakdown of points:
|
Name |
STAGE RESULTS |
RED JERSEY |
GREEN JERSEY |
POLKA DOT JERSEY |
WHITE JERSEY |
POINTS/CLASS |
TOTAL |
PREVIOUS |
CUM. TOTAL |
|
Team Amalia* |
94 |
23 |
11 |
0 |
9 |
43 |
137 |
0 |
137 |
|
Team Ansel* |
59 |
14 |
7 |
0 |
5 |
26 |
85 |
0 |
85 |
|
Team Charles* |
43 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
49 |
0 |
49 |
|
Team Felix* |
9 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
0 |
9 |
|
Team Grace* |
67 |
14 |
7 |
0 |
5 |
26 |
93 |
0 |
93 |
|
Team Hugo* |
24 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
30 |
0 |
30 |
|
Team Sam* |
103 |
23 |
11 |
0 |
9 |
43 |
146 |
0 |
146 |
|
Team Tadej* |
80 |
20 |
9 |
0 |
4 |
33 |
113 |
0 |
113 |
Complete breakdown of points (including adults):
|
Team Adam |
29 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
35 |
0 |
35 |
|
Team Amalia* |
94 |
23 |
11 |
0 |
9 |
43 |
137 |
0 |
137 |
|
Team Amelia |
54 |
13 |
6 |
0 |
4 |
23 |
77 |
0 |
77 |
|
Team Ansel* |
59 |
14 |
7 |
0 |
5 |
26 |
85 |
0 |
85 |
|
Team Charles* |
43 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
49 |
0 |
49 |
|
Team Corsa |
88 |
15 |
7 |
0 |
5 |
27 |
115 |
0 |
115 |
|
Team Craig |
103 |
23 |
11 |
0 |
9 |
43 |
146 |
0 |
146 |
|
Team Doug |
68 |
13 |
6 |
0 |
4 |
23 |
91 |
0 |
91 |
|
Team Felix* |
9 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
0 |
9 |
|
Team Grace* |
67 |
14 |
7 |
0 |
5 |
26 |
93 |
0 |
93 |
|
Team Hugo* |
24 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
30 |
0 |
30 |
|
Team Jake |
34 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
40 |
0 |
40 |
|
Team Jonwaine |
14 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
14 |
0 |
14 |
|
Team Julie |
89 |
23 |
11 |
0 |
9 |
43 |
132 |
0 |
132 |
|
Team Kari |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Team Kate |
34 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
34 |
0 |
34 |
|
Team Kent |
59 |
13 |
6 |
0 |
4 |
23 |
82 |
0 |
82 |
|
Team Laurens |
89 |
23 |
11 |
0 |
9 |
43 |
132 |
0 |
132 |
|
Team Paul |
59 |
14 |
7 |
0 |
5 |
26 |
85 |
0 |
85 |
|
Team Rob |
24 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
30 |
0 |
30 |
|
Team Roslyn |
79 |
12 |
5 |
0 |
6 |
23 |
102 |
0 |
102 |
|
Team Sam* |
103 |
23 |
11 |
0 |
9 |
43 |
146 |
0 |
146 |
|
Team Tadej* |
80 |
20 |
9 |
0 |
4 |
33 |
113 |
0 |
113 |
|
Team Zach |
108 |
23 |
11 |
0 |
9 |
43 |
151 |
0 |
151 |
-Laurens.