The opening stages of the 2026 Giro d’Italia have seen some big high-consequence crashes, with a number of the 184 starters failing to make it beyond Bulgaria and a high rate of attrition continuing in Italy.
The latest abandons include Giro debutant Timo de Jong from Picnic PostNL, who pulled out of the race during Stage 5 on Wednesday, suffering from the effects of a crash that happened on Sunday (the final stage in Bulgaria), during which he hit the deck while taking a left corner with 8km left to go and aggravated a wrist injury he'd sustained at the GP Monseré.
British rider Josh Giddings, who got a late call-up to the Lotto-Intermarché squad after illness ripped through the Belgian team, was also forced to bail part way through Stage 5, suffering from lower back pain caused by that big crash during stage 2. Italian Samuele Battistella from EF Education-EasyPost failed to finish stage 5 too.
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The Lotto Intermarché team is now severely depleted, having also lost both Arnaud De Lie (who was unable to finish stage 4) and Milan Menten (didn't start stage 5) – both floored by the manure malady believed to have been caused by bacteria from cow pats encountered during the Famenne Ardenne Classic in Belgium, just before the Giro.
Earlier on Tuesday, Kaden Groves of Alpecin-Premier Tech retired from the race, with the two-time stage winner succumbing to injuries suffered on the stage one mass crash.
Ahead of stage four, Wilco Kelderman of Visma-Lease a Bike left the Giro, depriving Jonas Vingegaard of a key domestique in his bid to win the maglia rosa. Visma posted: "Unfortunately, Wilco Kelderman will not start stage 4 of the Giro d’Italia following his crash a couple of days ago, as he is still experiencing lingering effects from the crash."
Other early departees include one realistic GC contender, British rider Adam Yates, who might have given overwhelming Corsa Rosa favourite Vingegaard a run for his money.
Matteo Moschetti from Pinarello Q36.5 was the first rider to exit the race, after sustaining a concussion in a big crash in Burgas, on the final kilometre of stage 1 of the Giro. It was a huge pile-up, from which Paul Magnier of Soudal-Quick Step emerged victorious, but much worse was to come the next day.
UAE Emirates-XRG were the team worst hit by the calamitous crash that marred the second stage of the 2026 Giro, ultimately losing three riders as a result of the horrendous pile-up that happened 21km from the finish.
Having bounced back from a broken wrist caused by a collision with a kangaroo during the Tour Down Under in January (a race he still managed to won), Jay Vine suffered a broken elbow and concussion in the crash and the Australian was immediately withdrawn from the race. His teammate, Spanish rider Marc Soler, was also admitted to hospital with fractured pelvis.
In addition, Uno-X Mobility rider Ådne Holter and Santiago Buitrago from Bahrain Victorious were both forced to withdraw from the race as a result of the same crash, which happened on a slippery stretch of road shortly before the final climb to the Lyaskovets Monastery, and resulted in the race being temporarily neutralised while casualties were treated.
Somewhat controversially, UAE’s British GC hopeful Adam Yates was allowed to continue, despite looking as though he’d collided with a combine harvester, only to be withdrawn from the Giro on Sunday, before the start of stage 3, with what has been described as ‘delayed concussive symptoms’.
Andrea Vendrame, a previous stage winner at the Giro, was also forced to retire from the race after stage two, with X-rays revealing the Jayco AlUla rider had suffed three lower back fractures in the crash.
Riders who have abandoned the 2026 Giro
- Matteo Moschetti (Pinarello Q36.5) – DNF stage 1 after crashing
- Jay Vine (UAE Emirates-XRG) – DNF stage 2 after crashing
- Marc Soler (UAE Emirates-XRG) – DNF stage 2 after crashing
- Ådne Holter (Uno-X Mobility) – DNF stage 2 after crashing
- Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) – DNF stage 2 after crashing
- Adam Yates (UAE Emirates-XRG) – DNS stage 3 after crashing on stage 2
- Andrea Vendrame (Jayco AlUla) – DNS stage 3 after crashing on stage 2
- Wilco Kelderman (Visma-Lease a Bike) – DNS stage 4 after crashing on stage 2
- Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Premier Tech) – DNF stage 4 after crashing on stage 1
- Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Intermarché) – DNF stage 4 after illness
- Milan Menten (Lotto-Intermarché) – DNS Stage 5 after illness
- Timo de Jong (Picnic PostNL) – DNF Stage 5 after crash
- Josh Giddings (Lotto Intermarché) – DNF Stage 5 after crashing on stage 2
- Samuele Battistella (EF Education-EasyPost) – DNF Stage 5
