The opening stages of the 2026 Giro d’Italia saw 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 departures are EF Education–EasyPost riders Michael Valgren (winner of stage 17) and James Shaw, neither of whom started stage 19 of the race on Friday. "We have enormous respect for the Giro and will keep fighting all the way to Rome," claims a post from the team with the alien-themed jerseys, despite an open admission that the duo have been beamed up to concentrate on bigger things fast approaching on the calendar: "With Michael and James both essential to our goals this summer, we have made the decision [to withdraw them from the Giro] to prioritize their health, recovery, and preparation for the important block of racing ahead."
Canadian rider Nickolas Zukowsky (Pinarello-Q36.5) has also withdrawn from the race, dropping out during stage 17 because he was suffering with the ongoing effects of a crash that happened on Sunday's stage to Milan.
German Jayco AlUla rider Pascal Ackermann, who was unable to start stage 16 on Tuesday morning (following a rest day on Monday), after apparently suffering from an gastrointestinal viral infection.
While sickness and crash-related injury has depleted several teams in this year's Giro, there was a dramatic withdrawal of a different kind on Sunday, when Bardiani-CSF-7 Saber rider Enrico Zanoncello was kicked out of the race for head butting Bob Donaldson (Jayco-AlUla) in the closing metres of Stage 15.
The action – described by the jury as 'deviation from the chosen line that endangers another rider (blow from the head)' – resulted in Donaldson hitting the deck. Italian Zanoncello later apologised, but he's been given his marching orders nonetheless.
The previous day, fellow Italian Christian Scaroni (XDS Astana), retired with illness (acute pharyngotracheitis with fever) during stage 14, and stage 12 also saw two riders, Javier Romo (Movistar) and Sjoerd Bax (Pinarello-Q36.5) depart the race because of sickness.
A three-man crash on the penultimate descent ruined stage 11 for Filippo Ganna (Soudal–Quick-Step), Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto–Intermarché) and Christian Scaroni (XDS Astana), and Van Eetvelt, Lotto–Intermarché's lead rider, was left injured and deemed unfit to start stage 12, a major blow for the team who are now down to four riders.
Three other riders were also forced to throw the towel in on Wednesday, during stage 11, including Davide Ballerini (XDS Astana), the surprise winner of stage 6, who withdrew after crashing hard. Edward Planckaert from Alpecin-Premier Tech and Uno-X Mobility's Martin Tjøtta also took an early shower on Wednesday, reducing the field to 164 riders.
While stage 10 (the time trial day) and stage 9 on Sunday were crash free, British rider Jake Stewart (NSN), who had been suffering as a result of injuries pick up during that horror pile-up in stage 2, was forced to abandon the race.
The previous day, Pinarello-Q36.5's Fabio Christen crashed on stage 8 and immediately withdrew from the race.
Last week, Felix Engelhardt from Jayco AlUla, failed to start stage 6, while Giro debutant Timo de Jong from Picnic PostNL pulled out of the race during Stage 5, 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.
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 was 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
- Felix Engelhardt (Jayco AlUla) – DNS Stage 6
- Jake Stewart (NSN) – DNF Stage 8 after crashing on stage 2
- Fabio Christen (Pinarello-Q36.5) – DNF Stage 8 after crashing
- Davide Ballerini (XDS Astana) - DNF stage 11 after crashing
- Edward Planckaert (Alpecin - Premier Tech) DNF stage 11
- Martin Tjøtta (Uno-X Mobility) - DNF stage 11
- Lennert van Eetvelt (Lotto-Intermarché) DNS stage 12 after crashing on stage 11
- Sjoerd Bax (Pinarello-Q36.5) – DNF stage 12 because of illness
- Javier Romo (Movistar) – DNF stage 12 because of illness
- Christian Scaroni (XDS Astana) – DNF stage 14 because of illness
- Enrico Zanoncello (Bardian-CSF-7 Saber) – Disqualified during stage 15
- Pascal Ackermann (Jayco AlUla) - DNS Stage 16 – because of illness
- Nickolas Zukowsky (Pinarello-Q36.5) - DNF stage 17, injured in crash on stage 15
- Michael Valgren (EF Education–EasyPost) - DNS stage 19, withdrawn by team
- James Shaw (EF Education–EasyPost) - DNS stage 19, withdrawn by team
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