Giro d'Italia 2026 stage 10 preview, profiles, favourites & predictions - Will Jonas Vingegaard take the pink jersey on the race's key time trial?

The 2026 Giro d'Italia will take place from the 8th to the 31st of May. It is the first Grand Tour of the season, and there are 21 stages that will take the riders through many of Italy's iconic cities, the mythical Alps, and many treacherous stages - each one can end the climber's chances of winning. We preview stage 10, which is expected to start and finish at 13:15 and 17:15CET.

The 10th stage - which is also the opening day of the second week - is the race's sole time trial. This takes place from Viareggio to Massa, as the riders traverse back into the western coast of Italy, straight into the Tirreno sea.

it is pan-flat and 40 kilometers long which favours the specialists and gives them an opportunity to take a stage win. There is not a single - even small - climb, it is purely a day for those who specialize in the discipline to show their worth.

However the GC fight is always going to be the main story of the day, with this route providing enough kilometers to truly create differences. There is nowhere to hide as the route is not technical, and will take place fully by the coast which also allows the wind to play a role.

GC Fight - I do expect Jonas Vingegaard to move into the race lead. 42 kilometers, flat, is a very long effort - around 45 minutes. Afonso Eulálio is on tremendous form, and will ride with motivation, but we have to be logical. A lightweight rider, who has never had real GC aspirations for stage-races since joining the World Tour and has no references for solid time trials, is simply not going to fare well in this effort. The equipment won't be as tailor-made as his rivals who fight for GC on a yearly basis; and I doubt he trains much on the TT bike which can make it more difficult to put down the watts he would usually do on a climb. I predict around 3:30 minutes of loss, at best.

2:24 minutes to Jonas Vingegaard mean he can lose 3.4 seconds per kilometer. It's still a very decent margin, not impossible to keep the pink jersey, but I would bet he comes down to second place. Felix Gall is likely to lose around 2 minutes to the Dane, on a good day; whilst limiting losses to around 30 seconds to someone like Jai Hindley.

I believe Thymen Arensman will fly in this time trial and will jump to fourth place, coming close to Gall and the podium. But aside from them, the GC field is incredibly far from being good time trial wise - which is a breath of fresh air. Most riders will fight to limit losses, whilst only two can really benefit a lot from it.

Stage win - But I don't expect Vingegaard to win. He can do a good time, but this is an effort for the specialists, and he simply won't have the raw watts to take a third win. Take a Filippo Ganna, who on this terrain is an absolute weapon, and has had a very hidden race where he has not done many big efforts, thinking of this day.

I don't see anyone who can challenge him under regular conditions either. But plenty quality time trialists to fight for the top results. Alec Segaert, Rémi Cavagna, Niklas Larsen, Ben Turner, Magnus Sheffield, Matteo Sobrero, Aleksandr Vlasov, Nelson Oliveira, Johan Price-Pejtersen and Mikkel Bjerg are some of them. For many, a Top3 would mean quite a lot, and we may see surprises.

*** Filippo Ganna

** Jonas Vingegaard, Thymen Arensman, Mikkel Bjerg

* Alec Segaert, Rémi Cavagna, Ben Turner, Niklas Larsen, Magnus Sheffield, Matteo Sobrero, Nelson Oliveira, Johan Price-Pejtersen

Pick: Filippo Ganna