Everyone expected him to deliver on Monte Livata, and he did so with ruthless precision. Lorenzo Finn did more than winning, he dominated the first summit finish of the 2026 Giro Next Gen, producing a remarkable solo attack launched with around 10 kilometres remaining. Mateo Ramírez (UAE Team Emirates GenZ) and Henrique Bravo (Soudal Quick-Step Devo Team) could do nothing but fight for second and third place, eventually finishing 52 seconds behind the talented rider from Liguria.
With this victory, Finn naturally moves into the Maglia Rosa, the first of his career, which tomorrow will complement the beautiful rainbow jersey he wears as reigning world champion.
Big breakaway no match for ruthless Finn
The start of the stage was incredibly intense, with the first hour covered at a blistering average speed of 50.8 km/h despite the presence of an early climb. Eventually, a group of 33 riders broke clear, including Gustave Blanc, Paul Fietzke and Gijs Schoonvelde (Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe Rookies), Bálint Feldhoffer (Bahrain Victorious Development), Braden Reitz (Decathlon CMA CGM Development Team), Lennes Jacobs and Matteo Vanhuffel (Development Team Picnic PostNL), Miguel Ángel Marín (EF Education-Aevolo), Johan Blanc and Soan Ruesche (Groupama-FDJ CT), Adam Rafferty and Ben Wiggins (Hagens Berman Jayco), Matthew Dodd, Milkias Maekele and Nicolas Milesi (INEOS Grenadiers Racing Academy), Kamiel Eeman (Lotto-Groupe Wanty), Tomás Pombo and Ibai Villate (Movistar Academy), Roei Edinger and Álvaro García (NSN Development), Federico Savino (Soudal Quick-Step Devo Team), Michele Pascarella (Team Nippo NuovaComauto Obor), Nicolò Pizzi (Technipes #inEmiliaRomagna Caffè Borbone), Elliot Rowe and William Smith (Visma | Lease a Bike Development), Baptiste Lecoq (Tudor U23), Daan Dijkman and Ugo Fabries (UAE Team Emirates GenZ), Tommaso Cafueri (UC Trevigiani–Energiapura Marchiol) and Pierre-Henry Basset (XDS Astana Development Team).
Several dangerous riders were among the escapees, with Vanhuffel sitting second overall and Rafferty, Eeman, Villate, Rowe and Dijkman all just 21 seconds behind race leader Matisse Van Kerckhove. Their lead peaked at 3’25”, but Henrique Bravo’s Soudal Quick-Step Devo Team kept the situation firmly under control and never allowed the gap to grow too much.
After the climb to San Vito Romano, Johan Blanc, Cristian Remelli, Álvaro García and Pierre-Henry Basset forged ahead from the breakaway and reached the foot of the final climb to Monte Livata with a 30-second advantage over the other escapees and just under two minutes on the peloton. Blanc proved the strongest on the lower slopes and found himself alone at the front, while in the favourites’ group Mateo Ramírez launched an early attack. Lorenzo Finn allowed the Ecuadorian a few hundred metres before beginning the acceleration everyone had been waiting for. Initially, only Aubin Sparfel and Henrique Bravo were able to respond. Finn soon bridged across to Ramírez and then raised the pace once again, dropping everyone.
The rider from Liguria caught his teammate Blanc, who paced him for around one and a half kilometres before leaving him to continue alone with 8.7 kilometres remaining. Behind, Ramírez and Bravo emerged as the closest pursuers, but over the final four kilometres they remained consistently around one minute in arrears. The world champion was untouchable, with his first visible signs of fatigue appearing only two kilometres from the finish. It was his maiden victory at the Giro Next Gen, but his eyes are already set on celebrating the overall triumph on Sunday.
