Dutch Champion Danny van Poppel to skip the Giro d'Italia after a difficult spring

Dutch National Champion Danny van Poppel will not line up for the 2026 Giro d'Italia next week. Despite a winter agreement with Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe that he would target his own sprint opportunities in Italy, a severely underwhelming spring campaign has prompted the German squad to leave him off the roster.

Van Poppel had a stellar 2025 season, where he secured four victories while primarily operating as a lead-out man. Those wins included two mass sprints at the Tour of Hungary, a solo stage victory at the NIBC Tour of Holland, and the national road title, where he beat top-tier sprinters Dylan Groenewegen and Olav Kooij.

Following that successful run, Van Poppel and his team decided to change course for 2026. The Dutchman had grown weary of emptying himself for sprinters he felt didn't quite belong to the sport's absolute elite tier.

“I’ve worked so hard and so much over the past four years that I was a bit done with it,” Van Poppel said back in December, reflecting on his time leading out sprinters outside the very top tier. “That’s why I accepted the option the team offered me to sprint again myself.”

The start of the 2026 season was solid for the Dutchman, who secured a solid fourth-place finish on Stage 2 of the Santos Tour Down Under. Eager to show off his red, white, and blue champion's jersey in a Grand Tour, he specifically targeted the Giro d'Italia, even skipping Opening Weekend to fully prepare.

However, the season has not gone according to plan. The sprinter has struggled with his form, recording DNFs at the Tour Down Under, Tirreno-Adriatico, and the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali. In fact, he only managed to contest a single sprint during his time in Australia.

Despite his struggles in the sprints, Van Poppel did show his strength in a domestique role recently, as he put in massive pulls at the Amstel Gold Race to help set up teammate Remco Evenepoel for the victory.

Speaking prior to Eschborn-Frankfurt on May 1st, Van Poppel confirmed that the Giro is off the table. He stated that he fully understands Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe's decision given his current lack of form and results this year.

With Van Poppel's absence, the German squad is bringing a climb-heavy lineup to Italy. The team will boast a multi-pronged GC attack featuring Giulio Pellizzari, Jai Hindley, and Aleksandr Vlasov. Pellizzari, in particular, enters the race with massive momentum. The young Italian recently won the Tour of the Alps and is widely viewed by pundits as the primary challenger to Jonas Vingegaard for the maglia rosa.

To support their climbing trident, the team's provisional roster includes a strong engine room of domestiques: Mick van Dijke, Gianni Moscon, Giovanni Aleotti, Luke Tuckwell and Ben Zwiehoff.