“I leave as modestly as I arrived” – Giro d’Italia boss steps down after designing 2026 route

After decades shaping the identity of Italy’s most iconic races, Mauro Vegni has retired as the Giro d’Italia’s long-serving race director. His farewell came quietly but poignantly, at Il Lombardia, the last event organized under his watch at RCS. Before bowing out, he finalized one final masterpiece: the 2026 Giro d’Italia route, his personal parting gift to the race he helped define.

"I've never cycled, as I always say, but I've been very involved with cycling," Vegni told Bicisport. "There were wonderful moments, like meeting the King of the Netherlands in Apeldoorn in 2016... and the one with the Pope this year. But there were also difficult moments, for sure. They weigh about the same, and that's a good thing."

Since 2012, Vegni has overseen RCS’s entire portfolio of WorldTour events, Milan–San Remo, Strade Bianche, and Il Lombardia. His steady leadership carried the Giro through storms both literal and political, navigating calendar clashes, pandemic-era improvisations, and modern commercial pressures.

“I leave as modestly as I arrived, happy to finish with a monumental classic like Il Lombardia, won by a top athlete like Pogacar,” he said. “I'm happy to entrust the future to a team of capable people. I don't feel any nostalgia or sadness. Who will take my place? Perhaps no one, in the strictest sense of the word. I think the company will choose to split my role and distribute it among several people. Times have changed; it's not like it used to be. These days, money rules.”

His final Giro as director, won spectacularly by Simon Yates, closed one era of Italian cycling stewardship. Yet Vegni’s touch will extend one more year, the 2026 Giro course, designed entirely by him, remains his final imprint. “Yes, it's all mine,” he confirmed to Cicloweb. “The fear of having to cancel a stage due to the inability to reach the big mountains convinced us this year not to go up too much. Still, the Giro can't do without its historic climbs.”