America’s Sepp Kuss won the Giro d’Italia’s queen stage to Piani di Pezzè on Friday, adding to previous Grand Tour stage wins at the Tour de France and Vuelta a Espana.Kuss, riding the 2026 race in the service of his Visma-Lease a Bike team leader, Jonas Vingegaard, was part of an early breakaway of more than 20 riders on a 151km route that took in almost 5,000 metres of elevation.Vingegaard, who came into this stage with a firm grip on the pink jersey thanks to a lead of more than four minutes over Felix Gall in second place, had stated earlier in the week that he would be happy to help teammates win stages in the closing few days of the race — and the Dane, who looks certain to seal victory in Rome on Sunday, made good on his promise.
For a while it looked like Giulio Ciccone was destined to win this stage, the Italian easing clear on the long descent of the Passo Falzarego and starting the final climb to Piani di Pezzè with an advantage of around a minute. But Kuss worked with Giulio Pellizzari to close the gap and was strong enough to drop Ciccone and solo to a momentous victory.In his post-race interview, Kuss confirmed that completing the Grand Tour stage win set had been his ambition. “It’s something I always dreamt of, but every year it’s getting harder and harder. I keep progressing, but so does everyone else, so every year that goes by, I think it’s going to be even harder to win a stage in the Giro to complete all three, but I just can’t believe it.”Vingegaard marked Gall on the final climb as 2022 Giro winner Jai Hindley climbs into third place after gaining time on Thymen Arensman. Canada’s Derek Gee-West, meanwhile, finished second on the stage behind Kuss and is now less than 90 seconds from the podium.The race heads into the mountains for the the final time on Saturday with a bumper 200km stage to Piancavallo, before concluding in the Italian capital on Sunday.Stage 19 results
