PEZ Race Report: The Giro d’Italia saved its nastiest day for late in the game – and Stage 19 delivered exactly the kind of glorious mountain carnage we expect from the Dolomites. After a day of relentless climbing, tactical chaos and shattered ambitions, it was Sepp Kuss who emerged victorious atop Piani di Pezzè, claiming the queen stage after timing his move perfectly from a star-studded breakaway. Behind him, the GC battle finally turned ugly for Thymen Arensman, who cracked on the final climb and surrendered his podium spot to a resurgent Jai Hindley.
Ben O’Connor descends the Passo Giau – a beautiful day in the Dolomites (but not for Ben)
On paper, this was always going to hurt.
The opening 45 kilometres from Feltre were relatively civilised, but then the Giro slammed the peloton straight into the mountains: the brutal staircase of Passo del Duran (12.3km at 8%), Coi (5.9km at 9.3%), and Passo Staulanza (6.9km at 6.1%), before the towering Passo Giau (9.7km at 9.4%) – the Cima Coppi and literal roof of this Giro at 2,233 metres.
And because apparently that wasn’t cruel enough, riders still had to survive the Passo Falzarego before the vicious finishing climb to Pian di Pezzè (4.9km at 9.7%). A fearsome day fitting of the Queen stage. 
Giro Chaos Begins Early
The opening kilometres looked like a race inside a race.
Attacks flew everywhere. Wout Poels, Koen Bouwman and a long list of hopefuls all tried to escape, but the pace was savage and nothing stuck. Then came a major Giro twist: Jhonatan Narváez, already a three-time stage winner and still mathematically alive in the ciclamino battle, drifted back to the medical car looking visibly unwell before climbing off after just twenty kilometres.
Game over.
With Narváez gone, Paul Magnier’s hold on the points jersey suddenly became almost untouchable.
The Breakaway Gets Serious
Eventually, a promising move finally stuck.
Initially it was Chris Harper, Nico Denz, Florian Stork, Johannes Kulset and Frederik Dversnes Lavik, before reinforcements arrived ahead of the Passo del Duran. Then the race exploded again.
Giulio Ciccone, clearly hunting mountain points like a man possessed, attacked from the peloton with a dangerous group that included Wout Poels, Sepp Kuss, Enric Mas, Alberto Bettiol, Giulio Pellizzari, and – critically – top-ten riders Damiano Caruso and Ben O’Connor.
Not content to sit quietly, Tudor Pro Cycling immediately countered with Michael Storer and Mathys Rondel, while Derek Gee-West joined the fun and suddenly found himself riding toward the virtual podium as the gap ballooned beyond two minutes. Meanwhile, O’Connor quietly detonated and vanished backward – unmistakable signs of a very bad day.
Ciccone Hunts Mountains, Gee Hunts GC
At the front, Alberto Bettiol turned himself inside out, shredding the leading group before a powerful fourteen-rider selection finally formed over the Passo del Duran.
The big story?
Giulio Ciccone.
The Italian repeatedly vacuumed up mountain points, first on the Duran, then on the Coi, and again over the Passo Staulanza, dragging himself closer and closer to Jonas Vingegaard in the mountain classification. By the time the race hit the base of the towering Passo Giau, Ciccone suddenly had a very real shot at stealing the blue jersey.
Meanwhile, Derek Gee-West quietly climbed into virtual second overall as the peloton — controlled mostly by Visma | Lease a Bike through Tim Rex — dangled the escapees on a very long leash. The Giro GC picture suddenly looked far less stable than it had that morning.
Jonas kept his cool and protected his GC lead.
Beautiful Suffering in the Dolomites
And then came the Passo Giau.
This is the Giro.
Ciccone’s attack set off national pandemonium
Snow-streaked peaks. Riders gasping for oxygen. The whole race reduced to survival and watts.
Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe briefly lit the match as the reborn Giulio Pellizzari attacked near the summit, dragging Ciccone along as the Italian grabbed maximum points atop the Cima Coppi, enough to leap into the lead of the mountain classification.
But Einer Rubio almost stole the KOM points with a sneak attack just before the top, royally pissing off Ciccone, who then decided to attack and dropped everyone. Suddenly it was game-on for an Italian stage win.
Behind, Bart Lemmen resumed Visma’s familiar mountain suffocation for Vingegaard, while Derek Gee-West stubbornly held onto a dangerous virtual podium position.
Suddenly, the Giro had tension again.
Kuss Does Kuss Things
The race finally exploded for real on the final climb to Pian di Pezzè.
First, Egan Bernal tried lifting the pace in the GC group. Then Gregor Mühlberger launched a move for Felix Gall, cracking riders one by one.
Eventually, only Jonas Vingegaard, Felix Gall, and Jai Hindley remained.
Notably absent?
Thymen Arensman.
The Dutchman cracked hard inside three kilometres to go, then watched helplessly as even Davide Piganzoli rode away from him. Hindley, aided by a perfectly timed return from the dropped Pellizzari, clawed his way back to the leaders and began stealing precious seconds.
Up front, however, the stage belonged to a familiar mountain assassin.
Sepp Kuss.
The American quietly slipped clear, reeled in Ciccone, and then held off the charging Derek Gee-West to finally claim the one thing missing from his résumé – a win at the Giro.
Gee-West held on for second, Ciccone salvaged third, while Gall and Vingegaard crossed together just ahead of Hindley.
By the end of the day, the Giro looked subtly but meaningfully different:
Jonas Vingegaard still firmly in pink.
Jai Hindley back onto the podium.
And the Dolomites reminding everyone that no GC position is ever truly safe.
PEZ Sez: Ride These Roads Before You Die
The riding – climbing and descending in the Dolomites is among the best you’ll find. The famed Maratona dles Dolomiti runs over many of these climbs and should be on yoru bucket list – check out my video for a close look at the day I ride it…
QUOTES
Speaking seconds after the finish, the stage winner Sepp Kuss said: “It was never the primary goal. The main challenge was to help Jonas Vingegaard win the Maglia Rosa. When I was told the other night that I had the chance to go in the break, I had to seize the opportunity. It’s something I always dreamt of but every year it gets harder and harder. I keep progressing and getting better but so does everyone else. I wasn’t completely confident to come across to Giulio Ciccone. I was a bit demotivated when he got one minute lead. I tried to focus on doing the fastest climb possible. It was a steep climb. I knew my mother was gonna be standing 500 metres before the line. A big shout out to her and my whole family because I only get to see them a few weeks a year. This is for them“.
2026 Giro d’Italia Stage 19 Video Hilights
2026 Giro d’Italia Results Stage 19
2026 Giro d’Italia Overall Results After Stage 19
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