Giro d'Italia 2026 stage 9 preview, profiles, favourites & predictions - Steep 10% climb can see Jonas Vingegaard come closer to the pink jersey

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 9, which is expected to start and finish at 12:50 and 17:00CET.

The final day of the first week will be tricky, and are an unusual sight at the Giro. Stage 9 will take place fully in the Emilia-Romagna region and have an 'unipuerto' profile, something very common at the Vuelta a España but rather unusual in the Corsa Rosa.

The first 105 kilometers of the stage are virtually pan-flat, running from Cervia up until the outskirts of Bologna. The riders then head back into the Appenines - this time, the 'Settentrionale', an area not frequently visited by the Corsa Rosa.

On the menu is a summit finish at Corno alle Scale. To get there, the riders will first take on the climb to Querciola, which is just over 11 kilometers long at 4.2% - although the first kilometers are almost flat and lower the average significantly.

There is a very small descent inbetween climbs, and Corno alle Scale is around 13 kilometers long at 6%. There is a Red Bull Kilometer interestingly placed 1.5 kilometers into the climb, which could shake things up if the breakaway is caught by that point.

The climb however has a few relatively flat sections, and the attacks should only come after passing through the Madonna dell'Acero with 3 kilometers to go.

That is because those 3 kilometers average 10% in gradient, terrain that allows for big differences to be made and for teammates to not be of much use. Here, the GC riders have no alternative to going head-to-head, and with this being the final day of week 1, it is unlikely that anyone will hold back.

There will be a tailwind early in the day, meaning that quite likely this is going to be a stage for the breakaway. Jonas Vingegaard already has a stage in his pocket and doesn't necessarily want to take the pink jersey as early as possible. He benefits from Afonso Eulálio leading the race and taking over the major podium duties, and Visma truly just do not have the need to be putting in big efforts throughout the day on a stage where you can't make big differences or attack from far.

Jonas Vingegaard - The Dane is going to be the main favourite nonetheless, because if the break is caught, he is the strongest climber. Regardless of what happens up front, you still have a 3-kilometer climb at 10% to the finish and you can make big differences in this. The riders should arrive rather fresh, and the Dane can increase his gap on Felix Gall and the BORA duo.

The rest, race at pace. Felix Gall, Giulio Pellizzari, Jai Hindley, Ben O'Connor and the rest of the GC group have to pace it to the finish and try to limit losses/gain time depending on how their rivals are. No real tactics can be used on this stage. Afonso Eulálio can likely do better than in the Blockhaus here, as the steep gradients and shorter effort do favour him - he will keep the pink jersey comfortably.

Breakaway - As I mentioned, there is a tailwind early in the day. But the start is also pan-flat, which makes it hard to form a strong group, specially one with strong climbers. Hence the pace should be quite high again early on, but it very much depends on how Bahrain and Visma want to control things. Today, just by having a few riders to close down some moves, they kept the peloton together for two hours of racing. I think neither has the need to do that, but Bahrain will try to keep a close control of the race in case some threat to the pink jersey goes up the road.

The winner would have to be a good climber, but some classics riders can't be excluded. It very much depends on the riders that are in the right move at the right time. Giulio Ciccone, Jefferson Alexander Cepeda, Rémy Rochas, Matteo Sobrero, Javier Romo, Einer Rubio, Alessandro Pinarello, Filippo Zana, Gianmarco Garofoli, Wout Poels and Martin Tjotta would be strong contenders here.

*** Jonas Vingegaard, Javier Romo, Giulio Ciccone

** Wout Poels, Gianmarco Garofoli, Alessandro Pinarello, Filippo Zana

* Felix Gall, Jai Hindley, Giulio Pellzzari, Jefferson Alexander Cepeda, Matteo Sobrero, Einer Rubio, Martin Tjotta

Pick: Giulio Ciccone

How: Breakaway win.