Bettiol wins solo on Giro d'Italia stage 13
An Italian riders winning on Italian roads under Italian sunshine. What's better?
Alberto Bettiol will always have found memories of the Ungiasca climb in the 2026 Giro d’Italia. He will enjoy retelling the stories, holding court with a class of fine of Chianti.
There had been a breakaway of fifteen riders strong and several were more than strong. He will pause a moment to let the drama sink it.
There was Michael Valgren (EF Education-EasyPost), Jasper Stuyven (Soudal Quick-Step) and Josh Kench (Groupama-FDJ). Plenty of potential winners in the group, which had over ten minutes on a disinterested peloton.
Bettiol is feeling it, it’s a beautiful sunny day, picturesque. His legs feel fantastic and he knows what to do in big moments like this. That said, he hasn’t won a high profile race in a few years.
He’s overdue and patience is perhaps running out at his XDS-Astana Squad. His results have been meager since since coming over from EF Education First.
Ahh, but he’s a brash Italian on the Giro d’Italia grand tour stage. Bettiol pauses again, refills his wine glass, looking around the room to make sure everyone is hanging on his words.
It’s a good story and Bettiol knows how to tell it.
The breakaway is on the climb now of the category 3 Ungiasca climb. It’s 4.7 kilometers in length and averages 7%. This is his moment to shine. He looks around at the others, knows he’s got the legs.
Only there’s a problem and it’s about to ruining his imagined victory celebration. The one he can already picture at the finish line in Verbania.
He pauses again, let the tale breathe. He reaches for a bit of prosciutto and maybe some Pecorino Toscano cheese, from his home region of Tuscany.
He picks up the story. There is someone else who is on form and just as hungry. A rider who has just missed victory twice in the Giro d’Italia, the Norwegian Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X Mobility)
It’s Leknessund who beats Bettiol to the punch. He attacks and drops everyone but Bettiol. The Italian will punctuate the story, admitting he was exhausted, suddenly unsure if he could crawl his way back to Leknessund’s wheel.
Yet somehow, with the help of the Cycling Gods, he summons the will and the watts. He bridges up and then, “Yes, my friends, with 100 meters to the summit, I attacked with everything I had.”
Here, the generous audience smiles, claps and someone pats Bettiol on the back. Another toast is given. They all know the happy ending to this story because he’s told them a dozen times before.
Bettiol bombs the descent in an aggressive yet fluid style. By contrast Leknessund takes more care and that opens the gap even further. From ten seconds to twenty and it will never go down.
The final few kilometers are pure joy, victory decided. It will be his second Giro d’Italia win in his career and finally payback for his XDS-Astana squad. And a dramatic reminder to everyone in the cycling world of his class, his passion and his enduring talent.
Alberto Bettiol wins the lucky thirteenth stage of the 2026 Giro d’Italia. It’s a big win, a day to remember in his sporting career and a story he will tell till the end of his days.