Giro del Veneto 2026 [FULL RACE]

October 14, 2026

89th Giro del Veneto 2026 🇮🇹 (1.Pro) ME – Verona – Vicenza : 167 km

Giro del Veneto is a UCI ProSeries 1.Pro one-day road race across the varied countryside of northeastern Italy, combining open valley roads with rolling hills, short climbs and technical descents. The course typically covers around 160–200 km, with moderate overall elevation gain distributed across repeated ascents rather than one long mountain climb. Gradients commonly range from 4–8%, with sharper ramps occasionally exceeding 10%, creating frequent changes of pace. Narrow rural roads, wooded sections, tight corners and fast descents make positioning important, while exposed stretches can bring crosswinds and changing conditions. The race often starts with breakaway attempts on the flatter roads before the peloton reaches more selective terrain. Successive climbs can stretch the field and create small groups, while descents and valley sections offer chances to regroup. As the finish approaches, riders must balance energy conservation with well-timed attacks. Depending on the route, a rising finish or short closing circuit can favor a solo move, a reduced-group sprint or a late acceleration.

An exceptionally long uphill drive for the line netted Jayco-AlUla racer Alessandro Covi a small bunch sprint victory on home soil in the Giro del Veneto on Wednesday.

Covi began his move some 300 metres to go on Vicenza’s Monte Berico, and the Italian climber narrowly fended off a almost equally persistent Uno-X Mobility’s Anthon Charmig to claim his first victory since a stage of the Vuelta a Asturias last year.

UAE Team Emirates-XRG had dominated proceedings in a tightly controlled bunch in the last 50 kilometres, first with Pavel Sivakov and then with World Champion Brandon McNulty. But their designated contender, France’s Benoit Cosnefrôy, could not repeat teammate Isaac del Toro’s win in Veneto last year and finally had to settle for third.

Covi’s home triumph also ended a lengthy drought on victories for Jayco-AlUla, whose last win was a stage of 2026 Tour de France with Mauro Schmid.

Asked by race TV about his lengthy wait for a victory this year with Jayco-AlUla, Covi explained that it was impossible to predict when success would happen.

“You never know, it’s difficult to win, but if it happens in October it’s still a big victory,” he said.

“Also, it’s a nice race, I already did it a few times. It’s the end of the season, a lot of the guys are tired – me too.

“But it’s nice to win with a new jersey, [it’s been] ten months before this victory arrived but it’s a really nice victory.”

McNulty on the attack
In a race which took a long time to come alive, an early attack by eight low-profile riders, all of them from Continental or Club level bar one, Tommaso Nencini (Solution Tech Nippo Rali), was the standout feature of the first 100 kilometres.

Together with Nencini, the strongest in the all-Italian break – Francisco Carollo and his Swatt Club teammate, Giacomo Garavaglia , Kevin Pezzo Rosola and Thomas Rossetti (both General Store – Essegibi – F.Lli Curia), Leonardo Volpato (Campana Imballaggi – Morbiato – Trentino) and Riccardo Lorello (S.C. Padovani Polo Cherry Bank) had a two-minute lead on the pack as they passed the finish line for the first time in Vicenza, positioned two thirds of the way up the kilometre-long Monte Berico.

Having enjoyed their time in the warm autumn sunshine, with three local laps of five and 44 kilometres to go the last of the early breakaways was caught, in large part thanks to Pavel Sivakov’s aggressive patrolling on the front of the bunch. Whilst a subsequent brief dig by Andrea Petrobon (Polti-VisitMalta) kept viewers entertained, there was little sense, though, that the main contenders were ready – or perhaps even able, given UAE’s iron grip on proceedings – to make a long-distance move.

Once Petrobon was sucked in on the second-to-last ascent of the Monte Berico, the same grinding-down process continued, as UAE both controlled their most dangerous rivals with a high pace that simultaneously saw numerous riders shed out the back.

Pounding up the Arcugnano, the other, far gentler, main ascent on the circuit, Sivakov kept up the hard work whilst the white jersey of teammate and World Champion Brandon McNulty was never far away, either.

Tudor and Uno-X Mobility were the keenest to lead into the last full ascent of the Berico, but their efforts to break UAE’s long stranglehold on affairs proved limited. Rather, Sivakov delivered one final effort, and as the bunch romped through the finish line and over the top of the grinding, steady climb, McNulty himself tried to go clear.

The American’s flick-of-the-elbow gesture to co-attacker Christian Scaroni (XDS-Astana) to come through failed to spark enough of a reaction, though for his plan to work out, and instead there was a general regrouping. Marc Hirschi (Tudor) then rolled back the years with a searing uphill move, and while McNulty visibly sat up, both Hirschi and Fabio Christen (Pinarello-Q36.5) were able to go clear.

The two had a gap of almost ten seconds as they blasted along the undulating Arcugnano and McNulty then delivered yet another counter-attack to try and bridge across. However, the American could not make it alone, his rainbow jersey meaning he was heavily marked.

Even so, with six kilometres to go McNulty’s constant accelerations did bring the bunch up to the two Swiss riders, and the American then almost single handedly ensured things remained together en route to the final, partial ascent of the Berico.

The front group of some 60 or 70 riders was still loosely together on the foot of the climb, as McNulty continued to drive away, only dropping back with 400 metres to go. However, Covi then launched a very long, sustained acceleration that saw the Italian both draw out the main group and stay ahead. Then whilst Charmig pushed Covi hard and Cosnefrôy and Christen were closing in fast, the 28-year-old Italian still had both the energy and resistance to manage to keep his rivals behind his front wheel all the way to the line.

“[Teammate Andrea] Vendrame was the guy we had for the sprint, but in the middle of the circuit, he came to me, said he didn’t feel good and I should wait for the sprint,” Covi explained afterwards about how he’d taken a much-needed victory for himself and the team.

“So I did exactly what he said, I never moved, I was always in the first group and I just tried for the sprint, and then I won. So that was super nice of Andrea, too.”

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