As the riders in the 2026 Giro d'Italia set off on the first stage today in Bulgaria, and now that you’ve had a chance to explore the detailed maps of the 2026 Giro d’Italia (even better in the velowire app!), we invite you to check out the official start list and see who the contenders are.

The Favorites for the 2026 Giro d’Italia

If there is one clear favorite on the start list, it would be Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike), who aims to complete his Grand Tour hat trick —following his victories at the Tour de France in 2022 and 2023 and the Vuelta a España in 2025— with this Giro d'Italia!

However, behind him, there are several riders lying in wait, and you never know what can happen over three weeks.

The start list includes the recent winner of the Tour of the Alps, Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), as well as Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) and Ben O’Connor (Team Jayco AlUla), who are aiming for at least a podium finish.

Among the outsiders is Derek Gee (Lidl-Trek), who will be looking to climb one or more spots above his 4th-place finish in last year’s Giro d’Italia, while Egan Bernal (Netcompany INEOS) would undoubtedly like to repeat his 2021 feat. Further down the list are his teammate Thymen Arensman (Netcompany INEOS; 6th in 2023 and 2024) and Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling Team; 10th in 2024 and 2025). Enric Mas (Movistar Team) will be making his Giro debut, though the Spanish rider has achieved his best results at the Vuelta a España, finishing 2nd in 2018, 2021, and 2022, and 3rd in 2024.

The riders and bib numbers for the 2026 Giro d'Italia

The 2026 Giro d'Italia features 23 teams of 8 riders each, for a total of 184 riders.

Below you will find the starting riders listed by team, along with their bib numbers.

Alpecin-Premier Tech

Back after his crash at the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Giro d'Italia, with opportunities in the sprints right from the start of the race. Edward Planckaert will be the last man to bring Groves into the team train, joined by Jonas Geens and Jensen Plowright. Italian riders Francesco Busatto and Luca Vergallito will focus on the mountain stages, attempting to break away and hoping the breakaway holds until the finish!

1/ GROVES Kaden
2/ BAYER Tobias
3/ BUSATTO Francesco
4/ GEENS Jonas
5/ PLANCKAERT Edward
6/ PLOWRIGHT Jensen
7/ PRICE-PEJTERSEN Johan
8/ VERGALLITO Luca

Bahrain Victorious

11/ BUITRAGO Santiago
12/ CARUSO Damiano
13/ STANNARD Robert
14/ MIHOLJEVIC Fran
15/ EULALIO Afonso
16/ PAASSCHENS Mathijs
17/ SEGAERT Alec
18/ ZAMBANINI Edoardo

Bardiani CSF 7 Saber

21/ MAGLI Filippo
22/ MARCELLUSI Martin
23/ PALETTI Luca
24/ ROJAS Vicente
25/ TAROZZI Manuele
26/ TSVETKOV Nikita
27/ TURCONI Filippo
28/ ZANONCELLO Enrico

Decathlon CMA CGM Team

The Decathlon CMA CGM Team is aiming for the general classification with Felix Gall, and in the mountains he will be supported by Gregor Mühlberger, Callum Scotson, and Johannes Staune-Mittet. With Tobias Lund Andresen, the team is targeting stage wins in the sprints, with a lead-out train formed by Tord Gudmestad, Rasmus Søjberg Pedersen, and Oliver Naesen. The latter will be making his debut at the Giro d'Italia, after 10 appearances at the Tour de France between 2016 and 2025.

31/ GALL Felix
32/ ANDRESEN Tobias Lund
33/ GUDMESTAD Tord
34/ MUHLBERGER Gregor
35/ NAESEN Oliver
36/ PEDERSEN Rasmus Sojberg
37/ SCOTSON Callum
38/ STAUNE-MITTET Johannes

EF Education-EasyPost

The EF Education-EasyPost team will primarily target stage wins at the 2026 Giro d'Italia and will therefore play its best cards on each stage to achieve this goal as often as possible.

41/ CEPEDA Jefferson Alexander
42/ BATTISTELLA Samuele
43/ BELOKI Markel
44/ MIHKELS Madis
45/ RAFFERTY Darren
46/ SHAW James
47/ VALGREN Michael
48/ VAN DER LEE Jardi Christiaan

Groupama-FDJ United

51/ CAVAGNA Remi
52/ BARTHE Cyril
53/ HUENS Axel
54/ JACOBS Johan
55/ KENCH Josh
56/ PENHOET Paul
57/ ROCHAS Remy
58/ ROLLAND Brieuc

Lidl-Trek

61/ CICCONE Giulio
62/ CONSONNI Simone
63/ GEE-WEST Derek
64/ GHEBREIGZABHIER Amanuel
65/ MILAN Jonathan
66/ SOBRERO Matteo
67/ TEUTENBERG Tim Torn
68/ WALSCHEID Max

Lotto-Intermarché

For Lotto-Intermarché, Arnaud De Lie will be aiming for sprint victories, supported by Milan Menten and Joshua Giddings. Lennert Van Eetvelt, in turn, will try to shine in the mountains, counting on the support of Lorenzo Rota and Simone Gualdi, who will be experiencing the Giro d'Italia in his home country and is therefore particularly looking forward to the second half of this Tour of Italy.

71/ DE LIE Arnaud
72/ AERTS Toon
73/ GUALDI Simone
74/ MENTEN Milan
75/ ROTA Lorenzo
76/ RUTSCH Jonas
77/ GIDDINGS Joshua
78/ VAN EETVELT Lennert

Movistar Team

For the Movistar team, Enric Mas is aiming for a strong finish in the general classification of the 2026 Giro d'Italia, marking his debut in the race. Additionally, the team is counting on Orluis Aular for the sprint finishes and on Javier Romo and Einer Rubio in the mountains. Lorenzo Milesi is expected to shine in the time trials.

81/ MAS Enric
82/ AULAR Orluis
83/ GARCIA CORTINA Ivan
84/ LOPEZ Juan Pedro
85/ MILESI Lorenzo
86/ OLIVEIRA Nelson
87/ ROMO Javier
88/ RUBIO Einer

Netcompany INEOS

The INEOS Grenadiers team, which will adopt the name Netcompany INEOS starting with this 2026 Giro d’Italia, is entering this 2026 [[Giro d’Italia]] with two leaders: Egan Bernal and Thymen Arensman. The team highlights Arensman’s 3rd-place finish at the Tour of the Alps and Bernal’s 5th-place finish at Liège–Bastogne–Liège (while Bernal also finished 2nd at the Tour of the Alps).

With Filippo Ganna, the team is targeting Stage 10, a 42-km time trial between Viareggio and Massa.

91/ BERNAL Egan
92/ ARENSMAN Thymen
93/ GANNA Filippo
94/ HAIG Jack
95/ SHEFFIELD Magnus
96/ SVESTAD-BARDSENG Embret
97/ SWIFT Connor
98/ TURNER Ben

NSN Cycling Team

The NSN Cycling Team (formerly Israel Premier Tech) will target the early stages with Ethan Vernon and Corbin Strong, the intermediate stages with Italian rider Alessandro Pinarello, while Jan Hirt will aim for a top-10 finish in the general classification, as he did in the Giro d'Italia in 2022 (6th and winner of Stage 16) and 2024 (8th).

101/ PINARELLO Alessandro
102/ HIRT Jan
103/ MULLEN Ryan
104/ SCHULTZ Nick
105/ SMITH Dion
106/ STEWART Jake
107/ STRONG Corbin
109/ VERNON Ethan

Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team

111/ BAX Sjoerd
112/ CHRISTEN Fabio
113/ DE LA CRUZ David
114/ DONOVAN Mark
115/ GONZALEZ David
116/ HARPER Chris
117/ MOSCHETTI Matteo
118/ ZUKOWSKY Nickolas

Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe

The Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe team is entering the 2026 Giro d'Italia with two leaders for the general classification: Jai Hindley, winner in 2022, and Giulio Pellizzari.

121/ HINDLEY Jai
122/ ALEOTTI Giovanni
123/ DENZ Nico
124/ MOSCON Gianni
125/ PELLIZZARI Giulio
126/ VAN DIJKE Mick
127/ VLASOV Aleksandr
128/ ZWIEHOFF Ben

Soudal Quick-Step

At Soudal Quick-Step, stage wins are expected, particularly with Paul Magnier in the sprints and Filippo Zana in the mountain stages.

131/ MAGNIER Paul
132/ BASTIAENS Ayco
133/ GAROFOLI Gianmarco
134/ RACCAGNI NOVIERO Andrea
135/ STUYVEN Jasper
136/ VAN DEN BOSSCHE Fabio
137/ VAN GESTEL Dries
138/ ZANA Filippo

Team Jayco AlUla

141/ O'CONNOR Ben
142/ ACKERMANN Pascal
143/ BOUWMAN Koen
144/ DONALDSON Robert
145/ ENGELHARDT Felix
146/ HATHERLY Alan
147/ JUUL-JENSEN Christopher
148/ VENDRAME Andrea

Team Picnic PostNL Raisin

For the 2026 Giro d’Italia, Team Picnic PostNL is adding Raisin as a temporary title sponsor. This does not change the team’s official name, but it highlights one of its sponsors, which will be clearly visible on the jerseys of the riders listed below.

The team is aiming for the general classification with Max Poole (who is still recovering from illness, however, so the team is taking a cautious approach with him) and has ambitions for sprint finishes with Casper van Uden.

There will be five Dutch riders, which truly highlights the team’s origins!

151/ BARGUIL Warren
152/ DE JONG Timo
153/ FLYNN Sean
154/ HAMILTON Chris
155/ LEEMREIZE Gijs
156/ NABERMAN Tim
157/ VAN DEN BROEK Frank
158/ VAN UDEN Casper

Team Polti VisitMalta

161/ BAIS Mattia
162/ CRESCIOLI Ludovico
163/ LONARDI Giovanni
164/ MAESTRI Mirco
165/ MIFSUD Andrea
166/ PESENTI Thomas
167/ SEVILLA Diego Pablo
168/ TONELLI Alessandro

Team Visma | Lease a Bike

Clearly the biggest favorite, Jonas Vingegaard makes no secret of the fact that he is aiming for the overall victory in the 2026 Giro d'Italia. At 29, the Danish rider could thus complete his Grand Tour hat trick following his victories at the Tour de France in 2022 and 2023 and at the Vuelta a España in 2025. If he succeeds, he would become only the 8th rider to achieve this feat!

171/ VINGEGAARD Jonas
172/ CAMPENAERTS Victor
173/ KELDERMAN Wilco
174/ KIELICH Timo
175/ KUSS Sepp
176/ LEMMEN Bart
177/ PIGANZOLI Davide
178/ REX Tim

Tudor Pro Cycling Team

181/ STORER Michael
182/ BARTA Will
183/ FROIDEVAUX Robin
184/ LIENHARD Fabian
185/ MOZZATO Luca
186/ RONDEL Mathys
187/ STORK Florian
188/ WARBASSE Larry

UAE Team Emirates-XRG

191/ YATES Adam
192/ ARRIETA Igor
193/ BJERG Mikkel
194/ CHRISTEN Jan
195/ NARVAEZ Jhonatan
196/ SOLER Marc
197/ MORGADO Antonio
198/ VINE Jay

Unibet Rose Rockets

Thanks to a wildcard invitation, the Unibet Rose Rockets team is participating in the Giro d'Italia for the first time. Dylan Groenewegen will be aiming for stage wins, knowing that the team has several other strong riders, notably Lukaš Kubiš.

201/ GROENEWEGEN Dylan
202/ DE VRIES Hartthijs
203/ KOPECKY Matyas
204/ KOPECKY Tomas
205/ KUBIS Lukas
206/ LARSEN Niklas
207/ POELS Wout
208/ REINDERS Elmar

Uno-X Mobility

211/ HOELGAARD Markus
212/ HOLTER Adne
213/ KULSET Johannes
214/ DVERSNES LAVIK Fredrik
215/ LEKNESSUND Andreas
216/ BLIKRA Erlend
217/ LOLAND Sakarias Koller
218/ TJOTTA Martin

XDS Astana Team

221/ BALLERINI Davide
222/ BETTIOL Alberto
223/ LIVYNS Arjen
224/ LOPEZ Harold Martin
225/ MALUCELLI Matteo
226/ SCARONI Christian
227/ SILVA Guillermo Thomas
228/ ULISSI Diego

featured image: Giro d'Italia

door Thomas Vergouwen
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this publication is published in: Giro d Italia | Giro d'Italia 2026