Stage 4
Catanzaro → Cosenza
Stage 4 opens the Italian leg of the 2026 Giro after the Bulgarian opener and rest-day transfer. 138km from Catanzaro to Cosenza in Calabria with a finale shaped by a 14.4km climb averaging 5.9% — a punchy hilltop run-in rather than a true summit finish. The terrain doesn't decide the GC but offers the first taste of Italian climbing for a Giro that has spent its first three days on flat Bulgarian roads.
Watch this stage
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What the stage looks like
Stage 4 opens the Italian leg of the 2026 Giro after the Bulgarian opener and rest-day transfer. 138km from Catanzaro to Cosenza in Calabria with a finale shaped by a 14.4km climb averaging 5.9% — a punchy hilltop run-in rather than a true summit finish. The terrain doesn't decide the GC but offers the first taste of Italian climbing for a Giro that has spent its first three days on flat Bulgarian roads.
Where the stage is decided
What to follow
- First Italian stage after the Grande Partenza in Bulgaria — peloton arrives jet-lagged but motivated.
- Calabrian hills welcome the Giro back to its homeland with a punchy uphill finale.
- Stage suits classics-and-puncheur riders rather than pure sprinters or GC climbers.
When to tune in
The 14.4km closing climb is steady enough that the bunch may stay together; watch for late attacks from breakaway specialists or puncheurs looking to steal seconds before stages 5 and 7 stress the GC.