The 2026 Giro d'Italia peloton is a bit worse for wear on day five of racing. As terrible weather met the riders on stage 5, a 203-kilometre journey from Praia a Mare to Potenza, the bunch was missing four more riders.
Lotto-Intermarché lost two more riders after star sprinter Arnaud De Lie's illness forced him out of the race, with Joshua Giddings and Milan Menten joining him on the sidelines.
Both Lotto riders were suffering from a freak illness picked up in the days before the Giro, a stomach bug blamed on cow manure on the roads at a race in Belgium the previous week.
Picnic-PostNL lost Timo de Jong after his crash on stage 3.
"It’s a real shame to lose Timo from the race," coach Matt Winston said. "He was an important member of our sprint train and someone that can be strong on a variety of terrain. We’ll not only miss his horsepower in the bunch, but he is someone that is motivated and brings a lot of energy to the group too; and it was great to see him experiencing his first Grand Tour. We hope that he recovers well and we’ll see him back racing when ready. The rest of the squad here will continue to chase stage results for the remainder of the race."
Later, Samuele Battistella (EF Education-EasyPost) dropped out of the race due to injuries sustained in a fall on stage 2.
Even the team of the overall favourite Jonas Vingegaard are down in numbers after Wilco Kelderman (Visma-Lease a Bike) didn't make it to the start line on the morning of stage 4, needing time to recover from injuries sustained in a stage 2 crash.
The mass crash on stage 1 eventually sent Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Premier Tech) packing due to his injuries. Groves abandoned the race in the early flat kilometres of stage 4.
The peloton began stage 5, a 203km race from Praia a Mare to Potenza, with 173 riders after Menten did not start, and was down to 171 mid-stage.
A total of 13 riders have had to abandon the Giro d'Italia of its original 184 starters, after a series of crashes in Bulgaria have already wiped several riders out of the field, including one GC contender.
Matteo Moschetti (Pinarello-Q36.5) became the first rider to abandon this year's race. The sprinter was caught up in a crash on the opening stage and couldn't continue on Saturday's stage 2.
Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Ådne Holter (Uno-X Mobility) followed the Italian in leaving the race on stage 2; the pair caught up in a nasty mass crash 22km from the end of the stage.
Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) were also confirmed as having left the race in the same crash. Andrea Vendrame (Jayco AlUla) and another UAE rider, Adam Yates, each posted a DNS on stage 3 for the same reason.
"Unfortunately, we were badly affected by the crash on stage 2 yesterday. Jay Vine suffered a concussion and an elbow fracture. Marc Soler has a pelvic fracture. At this stage, neither should require surgery," UAE Team Emirates-XRG stated before stage 3, also confirming that Yates had suffered "delayed concussive symptoms".
Most riders will start the race intending to get to Rome, but as the three-week race takes its toll, not everyone will get there, with tens of riders often dropping out over the 21 stages of a Grand Tour.
Riders may abandon for a variety of reasons, including crashes, illness, or just pure fatigue. Riders can quit mid-stage, climbing into a car or ambulance, or they may decide not to start the next stage.
If a rider stops mid-stage, they will be marked as 'did not finish' (DNF), whilst DNS stands for 'did not start'.
Riders can also be obliged to leave the race by the commissaires, either with a disqualification (DSQ) for serious rule infringements, or for finishing outside the time limit on a given stage (OTL).
Here, we will track all the riders who drop out of the 2026 Giro on the roads between Bulgaria and Rome.
Giro d'Italia 2026 abandons
Stage 2
- Matteo Moschetti (Pinarello-Q36.5) – DNS, stage 1 crash
- Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) – DNF, stage 2 crash
- Ådne Holter (Uno-X Mobility) – DNF, stage 2 crash
- Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) – DNF, stage 2 crash
- Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) - DNF, stage 2 crash
Stage 3
- Andrea Vendrame (Jayco AlUla) - DNS, stage 2 crash
- Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) – DNS, stage 2 crash
Stage 4
- Wilco Kelderman (Visma-Lease a Bike) – DNS, injuries from stage 2 crash
- Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Intermarché) - DNF, illness
- Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Premier Tech) - DNF, injuries from stage 1 crash
Stage 5
- Milan Menten (Lotto Intermarché) – DNS, illness
- Timo de Jong (Pincic-PostNL) - DNF, injuries
- Joshua Giddings (Lotto Intermarché) - DNF
- Samuele Battistella (EF Education-EasyPost) - DNF, injuries
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