A beautiful stage win, a Maglia Azzurra and GC top-five finish to celebrate in Rome
Three weeks after the Bulgarian Grande Partenza, the Giro d’Italia has reached its conclusion in the capital. From the charming cobbled streets of Nessebar to the iconic Colosseum of Rome, a collective effort from all eight Lidl-Trek riders delivered both a top-five GC finish with Derek Gee-West and the mountains jersey courtesy of Giulio Ciccone – the second time the Italian has claimed that classification.
The three weeks were far from straightforward, as is the case with any Grand Tour. After three weeks chasing a stage win, Jonathan Milan was finally rewarded with a sweet victory as the sun set on the Giro in his capital city. In Bulgaria, Gee-West was caught in a crash on stage two and lost over a minute after a chaotic neutralisation and restart. The Canadian refused to let it define his race, dug deep with characteristic determination, and steadily climbed the GC standings. A superb time trial put him firmly on the path to success, and in the final week, Diesel Derek’s engine was firing on all cylinders – the finest week of Grand Tour racing of his career.
PIANCAVALLO, ITALY - MAY 30: (L-R) Derek Gee-West of Canada and Team Lidl - Trek, Jai Hindley of Australia and Team Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe and Felix Gall of Austria and Team Decathlon CMA CGM compete in the chase group during the 109th Giro d'Italia 2026, Stage 20 a 200km stage from Gemona del Friuli to Piancavallo 1289m / #UCIWT / on May 30, 2026 in Piancavallo, Italy. (Photo by Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Giulio Ciccone arrived at the Giro with a stage win and the mountains jersey squarely in his sights. The excitable Italian may not have taken the stage victory he pursued so relentlessly, but he did something entirely unexpected along the way: wearing the Maglia Rosa for a day and fulfilling one of his greatest childhood dreams. Cicco accumulated over 500km in breakaways, pouring everything into the hunt for a stage win, and came agonisingly close on more than one occasion. What he did secure, with mathematical certainty on stage 20, was the Maglia Azzurra – a prize worth celebrating in such a demanding race.
In Jonny’s words:
“I’m super happy to end this Giro this way, I’m really proud with all we achieved in this Giro. I mean, at the end of the day you know we could say we could have done better on some stages but the important thing is that we always gave our best, we were always in the front fighting and trying to achieve the biggest goal with Derek and with Cicco getting amazing results and I was missing a victory and I’m super happy to make it today after the last two years when I was here, so now I’m just super happy to win in Rome.
Sobrero was great covering some breaks and helping with positioning so when Ganna attacked, he followed and it was perfect having him up there so we didn’t have to pull behind, it was perfect. It was a really big team effort today. I’m really really happy to pay them back with this victory.
It’s beautiful, after three weeks of looking for a win, to win on the last day in Rome means that we were keeping the head. We never gave up, always kept fighting for a victory we always believed we could get and always believing in each other so thanks to the team.”
In Derek’s words:
“The atmosphere has been good the whole time, so it’s been a really fun group of guys to race with. I’m just really, really, really happy with it. It is frustrating to take one GC spot back from last year, but honestly I think my level’s higher. I had such a hard race, and I think it’s really nice for the confidence moving forward, and hopefully to come back and try and crack that podium.
I think it’s also motivational – to go fourth and fifth is super frustrating – so it’s something to aim for in the future, and I was really happy with my level at the end of the race. The last two Giros, the first week has just been about damage control and then, yeah, luckily it’s built in a way where the third week can make the biggest difference. That seems to be where my legs come good – I’d like them to come good at some point in week one, but better this than never.
I don’t know if it’s always just going to be that I have to wait until the third week to have really good legs, or maybe it’s something we can work on, but just to get to that level at any point in the race, I’m super happy about that.
We got super close to a couple of stages, so that was obviously frustrating to miss out on them, but Cicco secured the mountains classification.”
In Cicco’s words:
“In the end, I managed to win this jersey. It’s a shame for the stage that I missed, but the only thing I can say is that I have no regrets, because I really gave everything. I tried my best and I gave my best, so I can say that I’m satisfied. Obviously, I still have a bit of bitterness in my mouth, because the feeling of winning is indescribable – but the mountains jersey definitely compensates for that. For me, a climbing jersey has a lot of value, because you really have to sweat for it and nobody gives you anything. For me, it’s always an important jersey.
On stage 20, we focused everything on this jersey, trying to bring it to Rome. It’s not a consolation prize – it was still a nice Giro for me and even though I missed a victory, I’m very satisfied. It was much more complicated to win this year than the first time; this time it was more difficult, but as we know, cycling has changed a lot in recent years and the level has risen.
There’s a big emotion arriving in Rome with the jersey, especially for an Italian rider. I’m really proud to wear the Maglia Azzurra and of course I have to thank the team for the work they have done over these three weeks. We did a great GC with Derek and maybe we were unlucky on some occasions, but in the end we never gave up and we kept going until the end.”
