Kuss Completes the Grand Tour Set on the Giro's Queen Stage, Hunting Down Ciccone Inside the Final Two Kilometres Above Alleghe as Vingegaard Locks Down the Pink Jersey
Sepp Kuss has won the queen stage of the 2026 Giro d'Italia, soloing to victory on the brutal Dolomites finish above Alleghe to complete a rare and emotional milestone: a stage win at all three Grand Tours. The American climber, long the most selfless lieutenant in the peloton, finally took his moment in the pink-tinged Italian mountains on the hardest day of the race.
Stage 19 was a relentless climbing test, packing more than 5,000 metres of vertical gain into its closing hours across the Passo Duran, the Forcella Staulanza and the savage Passo Giau before the final ramp to Piani di Pezzè above Lago di Alleghe. From the outset it was clear the day would be decided by the breakaway, with the GC favourites content to mark one another while the race for the stage went up the road.
The drama centred on Giulio Ciccone, who attacked clear and threw himself down the descent of the Giau to build a lead of more than a minute heading onto the final climb. The Italian, roared on by a partisan Dolomites crowd, looked set for a famous home victory. But Kuss, riding with the measured tempo that has carried Visma-Lease a Bike to so many Grand Tour triumphs, simply refused to let the gap stand.
Catching Ciccone with around 2km remaining, Kuss did not hesitate, riding straight past the tiring Italian and pressing on alone to the line. Derek Gee-West rounded out a strong day for the breakaway in second, with Ciccone hanging on for third after his long-range gamble. For Kuss it was a first Giro stage to set alongside his Vuelta and Tour de France victories — the full set, sealed in the cruellest, most beautiful terrain the race had to offer.
Behind the stage battle, the maglia rosa group came in measured and controlled. Jonas Vingegaard emerged from the queen stage unscathed, marking every move that mattered and surrendering nothing of consequence to his rivals. The Dane now stands one mountain stage and one processional finale away from adding the Corsa Rosa to his palmarès.
The day did reshape the podium below him. Felix Gall held firm in second overall, while Jai Hindley of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe climbed onto the provisional podium in third. The biggest loser of the day was Thymen Arensman, who cracked on the Giau and slipped to fourth, his hopes of a maiden Grand Tour podium now hanging by a thread.
Visible emotion greeted Kuss at the line, the 31-year-old overcome as the magnitude of the achievement sank in. Few riders are as universally respected in the bunch, and fewer still wait so long and so patiently for a day of their own. On the queen stage of the Giro, in front of a roaring Dolomites gallery, Sepp Kuss finally got his.
Attention now turns to Saturday's Stage 20 to Piancavallo, the last genuine GC battlefield before the bunch rolls into Rome for the ceremonial finale and the lifting of the Trofeo Infinito. Vingegaard's grip on pink looks secure, but in the Dolomites nothing is ever quite finished until the road finally points downhill for the last time.