This page contains the stage podium, the race story, GC implications after the stage, and per-rider performance. Read no further if you intend to watch this stage unspoiled.
On the brutal Val Martello summit finish, Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) outkicked Thymen Arensman to take the stage and the overall lead on home roads — the move that set the course for his maiden GC victory. Bernal and Vlasov rounded out the GC group at the top.
The first true mountain test of the race climbed to the Val Martello (Martell) summit finish at the head of the South Tyrolean valley. Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe controlled the day for their home-roads leader and Pellizzari delivered, accelerating clear on the final ramps and holding off a select group of favourites. Thymen Arensman was the only rider able to stay closest, taking second on the line; Mattia Gaffuri sprinted in for third, with Egan Bernal and Aleksandr Vlasov completing the lead group. The win flipped the race lead onto Pellizzari's shoulders — the move that, as the week would show, set the course for overall victory.
Giulio Pellizzari moved into the leader's jersey with his stage win, displacing opening-day winner Tommaso Dati. The GC compressed to a tight knot at the top — Arensman, Bernal and Vlasov all within striking distance — setting up three more mountain stages in which the margins would stay measured in single-digit seconds until the final climb.
On home roads in South Tyrol, the 22-year-old Italian took the summit finish at Val Martello and with it the leader's jersey — the decisive opening move of his maiden GC campaign. He out-climbed Arensman on the final ramps and would defend the lead through two flatter mountain stages before extending it dramatically on the last day.
INEOS's GC leader for the race, Arensman was the only rider able to follow Pellizzari to the line at Val Martello, taking second on the stage and sitting within a handful of seconds of the lead. He would hold a podium position all week before cracking on the final climb to slip to third overall.
The 2019 Tour and 2021 Giro champion was in the front group at Val Martello, fourth on the stage in the same time as the winner — another marker on his long comeback arc. He would emerge as Pellizzari's most resilient challenger across the week, ultimately taking second overall.