As it happened: Visma-Lease a Bike show their strength on the Blockhaus, scattering their Giro d'Italia rivals into the wind

Buongiorno and welcome to the Cyclingnews live coverage of stage 7 of the 2026 Giro d'Italia.

Are we ready? Today is the longest stages of this year's Giro and one of the toughest, with the Blockhaus mountain finish.

The sun is out on Formia on the coast north of Naples. Rain is likely during the long ride into the Apennines but fortunately the Blockhaus is close to the Adriatic coast and so the weather should stay dry.

Whatever the weather, it's going to be a huge day for the Giro and the GC battle.

This is our stage preview.

2026 Giro d'Italia stage 7 preview - First major summit finish to test GC contenders on Blockhaus

This is the stage profile.

This is the stage map for the 244km ride into and up to the Abruzzo mountains.

And this is the Blockhaus climb.

Riders are signing on in Formia. There is tension in the air and fear for the 244km in the saddle.

The opening photo is of Jai Hindley when he won on the Blockhaus in 2022.

Alasdair Fotheringham wrote this special feature on the climb.

What is the Blockhaus? And why does it matter so much in this year’s Giro d’Italia?

The riders are lining up on the start line for the roll out. Andiamo!

The maglia rosa Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain-Victorious) is also on the front of the grid.

It is a big day for him today. He leads Jonas Vingegaard (Visma) by 6:22 but how much time will he lose if the Dane attacks on the Blockhaus?

Here we go! The riders roll slowly out of Formia as the small town celebrates a day as a Giro host.

The local pasticciere have joined forces to make a huge cake in the shape of a wheel.

The riders face a 4.3km neutralised sector and then the 244km of racing.

There are several Visma riders up front, ready to control the early attacks.

They will want to let a small break go clear but will not want to lead the chase.

It will be fascinating to see who has the courage and ambition to attack from the start.

The roads are largely flat for 110km. The climbs start after 130km, with 70km of climbing and high plain racing.

There is a 20km descent and then the 13.6km climb to the Blockhaus finish.

244km to go

Here we go! The flag drops and we see an attack. Jonathan Milan is the first to go. He perhaps wants to join a move to contest the intermediate sprint. But it is 110km away.

A few other riders have joined Milan, with more coming.

Nickolas Zukowsky (Pinarello Q36.5) is the last to jump across, the last to get a ticket for the break of the day.

These are the five attackers: Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), Diego Sevilla (Team Polti VisitMalta), Jardi Christiaan van der Lee (EF Education-EasyPost), Tim Naberman (Team Picnic PostNL Raisin), Nickolas Zukowsky (Pinarello Q36.5).

240km to go

The five are working smoothly together. The peloton is spread across the road and so the gap is up to 1:00.

The break is not a GC threat. Nickolas Zukowsky (Pinarello Q36.5) is the best placed but is 22:13 down on the maglia rosa.

The peloton is rolling along, letting the break go clear.

Alasdair Fotheringham and James Moultrie are on the way to the Blockhaus to cover the stage for Cyclingnews.

It is also Alasdair's birthday today. He has a huge day of racing to celebrate life and celebrate being on the Giro.

Auguri Aladair! Have a good one.

Jai Hindley is also the man of the day. He spoke at the start.

The race has crossed a small climb in the opening kilometres and now face 100km on flat country roads, along the coast and then inland as they ride east into central Italy.

The stage passes through the Lazio, Campania and Molise before entering Abruzzo for the finish.

230km to go

The attackers already have a lead of 5:00 as the peloton rolls along and many riders take a natural break.

The gap could blow up to be huge.

Paul Magnier dropped back to his Soudal team car, perhaps to discuss tactics.

Milan is in the break, surely to try to score points at the intermediate sprint after 112km.

It is a big task but Milan could score 12 points if he wins the sprint. However he is 66 down on the French rider.

Magnier has won two stages and scored points on others. He has a total of 130 points, with Milan on 64.

225km to go

The gap is over 5:30 and so the Bahrain-Victorious team has stared to ride to protect Afonso Eulálio's maglia rosa. and accept their role as the race leading team.

It will be interesting to see if other teams, other GC tems such as Visma, Red Bull and Netcompany help with the chase and control.

The riders are fortunate that there is a tailwind blowing the riders along for most of the stage.

Movistar DS pointed out the wind factor and shared his thoughts on the stage.

Before the start of stage 7, Simone Consonni, Jonathan Milan and Filippo Ganna received honorary doctorate degrees in recognition of their Olympic gold medal in Tokyo.

This is explains this photo.

The vibes seemed good on the Visma bus before the start.

Vingegaard was a little cautious when he spoke pre-stage.

205km to go

Meanwhile the peloton has pegged to gap on the break to 5:00. Three Bahrain riders are leading the peloton.

James Moultrie spoke to Jonas Vingegaard and the Visma team about the Blockhaus climb.

"Blockhaus is a climb where you cannot hide," Vingegaard said.

"It will for sure be a stage where it will be a fight for the GC guys. Who knows, maybe we fight for the stage win, that would also be nice. But it's not only up to us, also other teams as well."

Read the full story here:

'Blockhaus is a climb where you cannot hide' – Jonas Vingegaard stays ominously calm as first 'real' mountaintop finish at Giro d'Italia looms large

James wrote:

Vingegaard is no stranger to making a statement on early mountain stages in previous Grand Tours, taking more than a minute on Tadej Pogačar at the 2023 Tour de France on just the fifth stage, and attacking away from the entire field of last year's Vuelta to win stage 9 to Valdezcaray.

Visma, who were more concerned about potential illness after a wet and cold fifth stage than their new 6:22 deficit to the race leader, maintained that same confidence just a day before Blockhaus.

They obviously won't be telling anyone their exact plans, but a Vingegaard attack seems inevitable.

Yet Vingegaard expects Eulálio to keep the maglia rosa.

"It's a good gap he has," said Vingegaard.

"I think he can keep it for a bit of time, because even with tomorrow's Blockhaus stage, he's a good rider, so it's not just like you're going to take six minutes out of him in one stage. He will keep the jersey for a bit, that's for sure."

195km to go

It may seem strange but the riders are back on the coast. The 244km stage includes a loop around the Lazio area and will pass through the start town of Formia again before heading inland.

The crowds are huge today.

The riders are leaving the Naples area but the polemica after yesterday's finish continue.

This was out stage report, capturing all the chaos and the late crash.

Giro d'Italia: Davide Ballerini avoids mass crash, speeds to stage 6 victory in Naples

As, always, there are pink vibes at the Giro.

175km to go

Our photographers are on the road and have this shot of the early break that includes Jonathan Milan.

Jonas Vingegaard returns to the peloton after a natural break. He seems relaxed so far.

Visma have placed one rider up front to help Bahrain control the break.

Is that a sign that Vingegaard wants to win the stage? It could be.

The race is into the hills of central Italy, south of Cassino. Fortunately ther riders follow a valley road towards Isernia and have a stiff tailwind.

We can see it in the flag flying on the hilltops.

160km to go

This is another a shot of the peloton. They lead the peloton by 5:30.

158km to go

The kilometres are slowly ticking down on the road to the Blockhaus. The roads are smooth and dry so far.

However there are reports of some showers on thew Blockhaus. It's important to remember the finish is at 1665 metres.

Jonathan Milan is still working in the attack.

The intermediate sprint is just 20km away. He is likely to win the sprint to take 12 precious points and then will surely sit up and return to the peloton.

Milan was not happy yesterday after the crash ended his sprint hopes but he is back in the saddle today.

Who will challenge Jonas Vingegaard at this year's Giro d'Italia?

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145km to go

The riders have already covered 100km of the stage, accumulating fatigue in their legs before the second half of the stage in the hills and mountains of Abruzzo.

A lot happened yesterday but this was one of the worst and saddest moment. Fortunately the Italian police quickly took action.

Crazy scenes at Giro d'Italia as lunging spectator menaces peloton - Video

135km to go

The riders pass through a feed zone and grab bidons and musettes. It vital today, with the 244km distance, to eat a lot. Carbs are the fuel for the final part of the race.

It's time for the intermediate sprint.

Jonas Vingegaard is tucked on the wheel in the peloton but blows a kiss to the TV camera to send a message to his family at home.

Sprint!

Milan stomps on the pedals and wins the intermediate sprint.

He scores 12 points and so pulls a few points back on Paul Magnier. Milan spent 120km out front to score the points, so worked hard for them.

These are the five attackers: Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), Diego Sevilla (Team Polti VisitMalta), Jardi Christiaan van der Lee (EF Education-EasyPost), Tim Naberman (Team Picnic PostNL Raisin), Nickolas Zukowsky (Pinarello Q36.5)

They lead the peloton by 5:30.

125km to go

The riders are on a long, straight road as they near Isernia. The climbs will begin soon.

This is the long ride to the foot of the Blockhaus.

This is Milan's sprint. We thought he would sit up but he is still doing turns in the break.

The riders have already covered more kms than they did in all of yesterday's stage. Yet today they still have 115km to race, including the 13.6km climb up the Blockhaus.

The gradient is slowly rising and hurting Milan in the break.

Behind Fran Miholjević is doing a lot of the work for Bahrain

112km to go

It is fascinating to see how the peloton is lined out.

There are two Bahrain riders on the front, with one Visma rider helping the chase.

The lines are in formation, with Lotto sat behind the chasers, with Visma, Red Bull and Netcompany further back.

Do you think the racing has been slow so far?

It's been steady, with only a five-rider break forming early but the pace has been fast, thanks also to a tail wind.

The average speed for the opening three hours is 44.800km/h.

Riders are pulling rain capes and gilet as a showers hits the race.

105km to go

With the road rising gradually, the gap to the break has fallen as the peloton push on.

It is now down to 4:45.

The views are stunning in this part of central Italy, with natural reservoirs, mountains and gree hills.

As we head into the hills, there are more and more castles. This is a beautiful part of Italy.

Jonathan Milan is still pushing on in the break. He is going to suffer today.

100km to go

To avoid the steep roads, the race covers long elevated roads.

The riders are gradually climbing up to Roccarso.

Jonathan Milan is no longer in the break. He has finally ended his suffering.

The gap is at 5:00.

Now is the right time to stop and fix any bike problems. Mikkel Bjerg stops to fix his saddle.

82km to go

The sun is out at the finish, though there is snow on the ground.

Diego Sevilla (Team Polti VisitMalta) is on the front of the break. He is showing that he wants to win the KOM atRoccaraso and so defend his blue KOM jersey.

Jonathan Milan is caught by the peloton after easing up from the break. He was able to rest up while he slipped back but he worked hard in the break.

Now he has to survive the final 80km of the 244km stage.

The TV motorbike spots Giulio Pellizzari in the peloton and he says with a smile: "It's a long day!"

He is not wrong.

The riders reach the Roccaraso feed zone and so grab more bidons and food.

Diego Sevilla (Team Polti VisitMalta) kicks away to win the KOM.

He scores 18 more points to extend his lead in the maglia azzurra competition. He now has 60 points.

He should be able to defend his jersey until the end of today's stage.

This is an important post.

An Australia flag flies across Abruzzo.

Jai Hindley moved to the area as a young rider and raced for the Aran Cucine team.

He won the Blockhaus in 2022 before going on to win the Giro.

In 2024 Neve Bradbury won on the Blockhaus when the Giro Women race finished there. She went on to finish third overall.

This is our story on Neve Bradbury from 2024.

'Smashed it out of the park' - Neve Bradbury moves onto Giro d'Italia Women GC podium after Blockhaus victory

60km to go

The riders pull on capes as the rain falls. They are on the high plain at 1000m in the Apennine mountains and there is some snow along the roadside.

The peloton is also wrapping up and tsking on final bidons and food before the descent. Now is the time to take on board carbs for the final 50km of racing and the Blockhaus climb.

The peloton has upped the speed of the chase, with extra riders on the front. But the gap is still 5:30.

Jai Hindley was the last men's winner atop Blockhaus at the Giro d'Italia in 2022 and his success set him on the path towards the overall pink jersey victory in Verona

He described the Abruzzo area as his "second home" after that stage win, with the nearby Passo Lanciano also making up part of the roads he trained on.

He told Cyclingnews and other media about his lockhaus memories.

"It was pretty bloody long, mate. I'd never really done such a long climb before," said Hindley.

"It was maybe one of the longest climbs I did in my life up until that point; it was super cool. I was living maybe 50km away, so for me it's a pretty special mountain."

Hindley knows the Blockhaus climb and so know what it could do in this year's Giro.

"I mean, it's super important. I think it's the first really big test," said Hindley.

"On Blockhaus, we will for sure see some gaps, and I think we will have a good idea of who's got the legs at this race."

45km to go

The kilometres tick down and the riders are on the final non-categorised climb of the day.

The four attackers are now suffering in the rain and so the peloton is closing the gap as they up the pace. The gap is down to 3:30.

The roads are soaked yet again, making the 244km extra hard.

The Bahrain team has made a movie trailer preview of the stage.

We have the popcorn ready.

Baghrain are up front to protect's Afonso Eulálio's pink jersey but Visma are also there to position and protect Vingegaard on the wet descent.

Now Netcompany move up to.

We can call it: The finale of the stage has started. Race on!

40km to go

Riders grab a bidon at speed as they near the summit and the start of the descent.

There is a fight for position up front.

Diego Sevilla (Team Polti VisitMalta), Jardi Christiaan van der Lee (EF Education-EasyPost), Tim Naberman (Team Picnic PostNL Raisin), Nickolas Zukowsky (Pinarello Q36.5) lead by just 2:30 now.

Fortunately the roads are dry on the other side of the hill, the sun is out too.

The climb to the Blockhaus finish is from Roccamorice, the hardest side of the mountain.

The 13.6km climb at a painful average of 8.4%.

The race book, the garibaldi says:

The last 13 km go up steadily on narrowed roads, with several hairpins. Gradients are over 9% for almost 10 km, with peaks reaching as high as 14%.

There is a very short counter-sloping stretch 500 m before the finish. The home straight (200m long, on m wide tarmac) has an uphill gradient of approx 8%.

30km to go

The peloton is at just 3:00.

It will be almost impossible for the break to stay away today.

Ooops! Sevilla almost goes the wrong way on the descent.

The roads of today's stage.

4km to the start of the Blockhaus!

As expected the sun is out and the roads are dry on this northern side of the Blockhaus.

Here comes the Red Bull KM sprint

Nickolas Zukowsky (Pinarello Q36.5) goes clear ahead of Jardi Christiaan van der Lee (EF Education-EasyPost). He seems to have wings.

Nickolas Zukowsky (Pinarello Q36.5) stays clear to win the Red Bull KM. He takes six seconds but most of all a nice cash price of 2500 Euro. That is some payback for his suffering.

The peloton is on the Blockhaus climb now, just 2:30 down on Jardi Christiaan van der Lee (EF Education-EasyPost) and Nickolas Zukowsky (Pinarello Q36.5).

Red Bull is on the front, setting a fast pace. They want to take the race to Visma.

We can see Pellizzari sat behind his teammate Giovanni Aleotti, with Jai Hindley on his wheel.

Red Bull seem to be trying to isolate Vingegaard.

The Dane has lost Campenaerts. He only has Kuss and Piganzoli with him.

There are only 40 or so riders left in the peloton due to this hard pace.

Derek Gee-West (Lidl) and Thyman Arensman (Netcompany) are further down the pack.

8km to go

Jardi Christiaan van der Lee (EF Education-EasyPost) go clear alone but the peloton are only 1:00 behind.

The wind could be a factor today but Vingegaard calls Piganzoli and Kuss to the front.

Visma make a mountain echelon, so positioning on the wheels is important.

The pace is hurting. Egan Bernal and Enric Mas have been distanced.,

7km to go

Piganzoli's work is hurting everyone.

Mas has blown up!

The wind was blowing from the riders' right. Now it more of a tailwind.

Derek Gee-West is distanced too!

The wind is a huge factor today.

The Visma group has caught and dropped Jardi Christiaan van der Lee (EF Education-EasyPost) and Nickolas Zukowsky (Pinarello Q36.5).

The GC riders will fight for the stage and GC placings.

6km to go

Piganzoli drops off and so Sepp Kuss takes over as the rider enter the protection of the trees.

As Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain-Victorious) is dropped, Vingegaard attacks!

Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull) is able to follow Vingegaard. Everyone else has been cast aside into the wind.

Felix Gall (Decathlon) tried to follow and is now trying to hold as gap.

Vingo goes again on a steep part of the climb.

Ouch! Vingegaard opens a gap on Pellizzari. The Dane is alone and power on.

Vingegaard cracked Pellizzari on the steepest part of the Blockhaus.

Some riders are pacing their effort and limiting their losses but the GC riders are scattered down the climb.

Felix Gall has passed Pellizzari and is spinning his way up the climb. He is 'only' 20 seconds down on Vingegaard.

Ben O'Connor is trying to close the gap on Pellizzari, who is suffering. Jai Hindley is on O'Connor's wheel.

This is the first mountain finish and the first GC shake out.

Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain-Victorious), gthe pink jersey, is at 2:00.

Gall is still only 20 seconds down on Vingegaard.

O'Connor and Hindley have caught Pellizzari but are at 1:00.

The riders are in the trees but will emerge into the wind in the final 500 metres.

Last KM

Vingegaard is strong but Gall is close to him and showing today he is a real GC rival.

Jonas Vingegaard (Visma) wins the stage atop the Blockhaus!

Felix Gall (Decathlon) is second at 15 seconds.

Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull), Jai Hindley (Red Bull) and Ben O'Connor (Jayco) sprint in at 1:05.

Ciccone leads home Lidl teammate Derek Gee-West and Arensman at 1:45

Here comes Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain-Victorious) but he loses 2:50. Bernal loses the same time.

Vingegaard celebrates with teammate Piganzoli. AS soon as he crossed the line and entered the podium area, he called home.

We perhaps expected Vingegaard to ride like that but Gall was the surprise of the day. He managed his ride well, as Pellizzari paid for hid effort to stay with Vingegaard.

Visma riders arrive at the team bus and celebrate together.

Jonas Vingegaard spoke before his celebrations on the podium.

"Today is a big day for me, it's my first Giro stage win, so it's a nice day," he said.

"My teammates did an amazing job, working all day for this. I'm happy to pay them off and take the win today."

Vingegaard had to hold off Felix Gall during the final 5km.

"Felix is a very strong rider, so we knew he'd be up there close," he said.

"He's a big rival and so he is a guy we have to worry about."

Vingegaard set a new record for this side of the Blockhaus climb of 38:22. He got some help from his Visma teammates and the wind but went hard too. He also completed the trilogy of Grand Tour stages, becoming the 115th rider to do so.

"It was a good day, a long day, it was 6:30 on the bike in total," Vingegaard said.

Asked if he could get even better, he said.

"Mabe I can even improve in the race," Vingegaard said.

This was the moment Vingegaard dropped Pellizzari.

Felix Gall was the revelation of the stage.

Ben O'Conor was also impressive today and so he was happy.

This was the moment Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain-Victorious) foiught to keep the maglia rosa.

To understand every detail and to study the new GC, read our full stage report.

Giro d'Italia: Jonas Vingegaard soars to victory with record-setting ride on race's opening summit finish at Blockhaus

Thanks for joining us for full live coverage of the stage. It was a long day in the saddle for us too.

Alasdair Fotheringham and James Moultrie are on the Blockhaus and have spoken to riders and will have all the important reaction and race analysis for Cyclingnews.

We'll be back on Saturday for full live coverage of stage 8 from Chieti to Fermo.

Much of the stage is along the Adriatic coast but the final60km are in the steep Marche hills, like a Tirreno-Adriatico stage.

The double final climb could see Vingegaard attack again.

A domani Girini!