Giro d’Italia 2026: Bettiol wins the stage as Eulalio retains the pink

Italy’s Alberto Bettiol wins the 13th stage of the Giro d’Italia with a stunning acceleration on the final climb to the Italian lake.

XDS-Astana’s Betiol rocketed Norway’s Andreas Leknesand over the top of the climb into a street full of cheering Italian fans, after the pair pulled away from the rest of a strong breakaway group.

Bettiol, 32, eventually took victory over Uno-X Mobility’s Leknesund by 26 seconds in bright sunshine on the 189km stage, risking more to secure victory despite nearly crashing after a violent jump over a drain grate.

Belgium’s Jasper Stuyven Soudal-Quik stepped at the head of a small group in third, 44 seconds behind, with Britain’s Mark Donovan fifth.

“I’ve won (this stage) before because all the family is here, and my girlfriend and her family are from Verbania, so I consider it my second home,” Bettiol said later.

“But winning like this I will take with me forever. I knew every corner of the last 50 kilometers because sometimes I train here. For me (I was) at the limit of this climb but I knew I was in good shape.”

In the battle for the overall win, Portugal’s Afonso Eulalio of Bahrain-Victorius is in the pink jersey, 33 seconds ahead of Denmark’s two-time Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard.

Visma-Lease a Bike’s Vingegaard, 29, is widely expected to claim the pink before the three-week race arrives in Rome on May 31, and Saturday’s big mountain stage in the Italian Alps could be the day he swaps the king of the mountains’ blue jersey for one of the overall leaders.

Wingard dismissed reports of an illness earlier in the week, insisting he felt “100%”.

Bettiol added his second Giro d’Italia stage win to a Palmares that also includes the one-day ‘Monument’ Tour of Flanders, which he won in 2019.

Meanwhile, Lorena Wiebbes of the Netherlands won the sprint finish in the second stage of the Vuelta a Burgos Feminas in Spain.

The star SD Worx sprinter crossed the line first, in a bunch that saw Britain’s Fenix-Premier Tech’s Millie Couzens finish seventh.