Giro d'Italia betting tips: Preview and best bets for cycling's first Grand Tour of 2026

• First Grand Tour of the year begins this weekend
• 2026 route set to expose any weaknesses
• Jonas Vingegaard is the long odds-on favourite

Cycling betting tips: Giro d'Italia

1pt e.w. Derek Gee-West in the General Classification at 40/1 (General 1/5 1,2,3)

0.5pt e.w. Ben O'Connor in the General Classification at 150/1 (General 1/5 1,2,3)

1pt e.w. Kayden Groves in the Points Classification at 12/1 (Betfred 1/5 1,2,3)

2pts Jonas Vingegaard to be King of the Mountains at 13/5 (Sky Bet, Paddy Power)

0.5pt e.w. Alessandro Pinarello to be King of the Mountains at 50/1 (Betfred, bet365 1/4 1,2,3)

Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook | Free bets

After a spring packed with memorable Classics and Monuments, with the likes of Mathieu van der Poel, Tadej Pogacar and Wout van Aert again lighting up the sport, attention now turns to the first Grand Tour of the year. The 2026 Giro d’Italia looks set to provide another searching betting heat, with a route that should expose any weakness in a would-be Maglia Rosa contender and leave little room for error across three demanding weeks.

As ever, the mountains will go a long way towards deciding matters, but the Giro rarely comes down to climbing ability alone. Recovery, tactical sharpness, and the ability to limit losses on the wrong day can prove just as important as outright strength across 21 stages and 3,459km. That said, two stages in particular seem likely to prove pivotal in shaping the general classification.

Stage seven looks the first proper reckoning for the general classification riders, with the long haul to Blockhaus set to provide an early but potentially significant sorting mechanism. This is the type of day that can expose any weakness in support, stamina or race sharpness and, while the length of the stage may encourage caution for a time, the finish itself should ensure the strongest riders begin to come to the fore.

Stage 16 has the look of one of the more dangerous days of the final week, with the climb to Carì offering the sort of test that can quickly magnify fatigue and punish any rider whose recovery is beginning to flatten out. By that stage of the race, bare ability is often only part of the equation; resilience and depth of effort can matter every bit as much as raw climbing strength once the cumulative toll of the Giro begins to bite.

The likely favourite for both of those stages, and the overwhelming favourite for the overall general classification, is Jonas Vingegaard who, after Tour de France victories in 2022 and 2023 and a Vuelta a España success in 2025, is bidding to become only the eighth rider in history to win all three Grand Tours, a feat even his great rival Tadej Pogacar is yet to achieve.

Wins in Paris-Nice and the Volta a Catalunya suggest he is arriving in strong form and, barring incident, it is hard to see any of his rivals being able to hold his wheel once he decides to blow the race apart. That likely dominance is fully reflected in his prohibitive odds, however.

Vingegaard’s main rivals in terms of betting are Giulio Pellizzari, Felix Gall, and Adam Yates.

There is nothing the home crowd would love more than to see Pellizzari light up this Giro and, after finishing sixth in last year’s edition and following that up with a top-10 finish in the Vuelta that saw him become the youngest rider ever to finish in the top 10 of two Grand Tours in the same season, he arrives with both momentum and expectation firmly behind him.

Overall victory in the Tour of the Alps, in which he won both key mountain stages, confirmed not only his current wellbeing but also his growing tactical maturity. Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe have assembled a strong GC-focused team around him and, if he is able to cope with the increased scrutiny, pressure and expectation, he has solid podium claims.

Gall is capable of living with the very best when the race becomes a pure climbing examination and, given the route, he should get ample opportunity to do just that. However, his time trialling is not at the same level, and he is likely to have to work extremely hard to limit his losses on Stage 10 if he is to remain firmly in contention.

Yates, meanwhile, has never quite scaled the heights of his twin brother Simon, last year’s Giro winner, but he is a vastly experienced Grand Tour performer and, with João Almeida forced out after failing to recover in time from illness, he now has a rare opportunity to lead.

That said, none of that trio appeal as obviously overpriced or underestimated in the betting and, in looking for a pair who might fall into that category, DEREK GEE-WEST and BEN O'CONNOR make more appeal.

Gee-West was fourth in last year’s Giro and certainly has the ability to finish a place or two higher this time around. What he lacks compared to the very best pure climbers, he can make up for with durability, race intelligence, and an ability to limit losses on difficult days, which is often no bad profile to have in a Grand Tour.

He appeals as the sort who could easily outrun his current odds, particularly if this Giro develops into the kind of attritional test that places a premium on resilience and consistency rather than repeated explosiveness.

A stage winner and top-four finisher in all three Grand Tours, most recently when runner-up in the 2024 Vuelta, O’Connor is a thoroughly established Grand Tour operator and, while he has not exactly set the world alight in 2026, his campaign so far has all the hallmarks of a rider undergoing a measured preparation with the aim of peaking when it matters most.

Jayco Alula have assembled a well-balanced squad in support, and it is not hard to make a case for him being significantly shorter than his current odds of 150/1.

Much like the general classification, the points market looks set to revolve around Lidl-Trek’s Jonathan Milan, who has competed in three Grand Tours and won the points jersey on each occasion, including the Maglia Ciclamino in both 2023 and 2024. He comes into the Giro after another productive spring, with multiple wins at World Tour level and strong showings in one-day company, and will be difficult to oppose if remaining in one piece over the course of the race.

Tobias Lund Andresen is the main market danger and heads into the Giro as a rider still very much on the upgrade, more than capable of making his presence felt whenever the finish sets up for a reduced bunch or a sprint in which positioning and resilience matter every bit as much as outright speed. The obvious question mark is that he lacks the established Grand Tour body of work of some of his rivals and still needs to prove he can handle the occasion and maintain his consistency over three weeks.

Paul Magnier, meanwhile, already looks the type to develop into a major force in top-level sprinting and there is little doubt his raw ability entitles him to plenty of respect if lining up here. Possessed of a sharp turn of foot and the capacity to accelerate quickly, he is not merely a pure sprinter, also proving effective in tougher, classic-style finishes, which broadens the range of stages on which he could make his presence felt.

That said, the value may well lie with KADEN GROVES, who brings one of the strongest sprint profiles in the race and looks sure to have a major say if arriving in his usual Grand Tour form.

Proven at the highest level and well versed in the demands of three-week racing, he has the speed, resilience and tactical knowledge to make his presence felt across a range of sprint scenarios. His dependability in this sort of environment is a major asset, and he appeals as one of the more solid betting propositions in the points market.

The King of the Mountains competition is notoriously dangerous from a betting perspective, not least because it is often difficult to know who will genuinely target the jersey and whether teams will be willing to let their riders commit to it. Even if that part of the puzzle is solved, there remains the possibility that a rider prominent in the general classification simply accrues enough points in the process to claim the prize anyway, as will likely be the case with JONAS VINGEGAARD.

Still, if looking beyond that obvious caveat, there are at least a handful of names in the market who make appeal on paper.

Giulio Ciccone is the natural starting point, given he possesses both the climbing class and attacking instinct to make a serious impact if Lidl-Trek do opt to let him off the leash. A proven performer in the high mountains and no stranger to racing aggressively in pursuit of secondary honours, he has the profile of one who could begin to accumulate points quickly, though the obvious reservation is that his role may yet be shaped by wider team priorities.

Jay Vine is a slightly trickier one to weigh up, but his upside in a market of this nature is clear enough if everything falls into place. Few in the race can match his pure climbing ability on his day and, if granted licence to hunt stages and breakaways, he could easily prove a major player. The concern, as ever, is that his role is rarely straightforward in a team full of options, while his ability to put together a smooth three-week campaign cannot be taken entirely for granted,

Christian Scaroni looks the type who could play his way into contention if the competition unfolds in a less predictable fashion than the market expects. An aggressive rider who is comfortable racing on the front foot, he has the sort of profile that could lend itself well to repeated breakaway involvement. Whether he possesses quite the same outright climbing depth as some is open to question, however.

Young Italian cyclist ALESSANDRO PINARELLO is the most interesting from a pure upside perspective, though.

He arrives on the back of encouraging recent form and shapes as a rider whose strengths are likely to be drawn out more fully once the race begins to tilt decisively uphill. A strong climber, he clearly lacks the experience of most, but there is also a case for saying the market and his rivals may not yet fully appreciate his potential in a competition of this nature.

If given the freedom to go on the offensive, he looks capable of making more impact than his current odds might suggest.

In conclusion, both Vingegaard and Jonathan Milan will be hard to beat, but for those unwilling to back odds-on favourites, there looks to be some each-way value elsewhere. Gee-West and O’Connor appeal most in the general classification, while Groves stands out as the value alternative in the points market.

The King of the Mountains competition is a tougher puzzle to solve, but a small each-way interest on Pinarello, along with a saver on Vingegaard, may be the most sensible approach.

Posted at 10:35 BST on 07/05/26

Safer gambling

We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.

If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.

Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.