Thanks to the excellent results achieved at the Giro di Sardegna, the seasonal victories of Italian riders in elite men's races have risen to 18. So far, no other nation has managed to do better. Filippo Zana is the tenth Italian to write his name in the record books of this race, which has returned to competition after 15 years of absence. The last edition, in 2011, had been won by Slovak Peter Sagan.

Italy was also a protagonist in the 78th edition of Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne. Matthew Brennan became the second British rider to win the Belgian classic (after Mark Cavendish's triumphs in 2012 and 2015), while, thanks to Luca Mozzato's 2nd place and Matteo Trentin's 3rd place, Italian cycling brought two riders simultaneously onto the podium for the first time. Italians have achieved 10 top-three finishes in the history of Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne.

The season of the Northern Classics opened last Saturday with the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, dominated by Mathieu Van der Poel, on the day of his seasonal debut. For the Netherlands, this brought the sixth success in the history of this classic and the first World Tour victory of 2026. So far, 11 cyclists have won races in the most important UCI circuit, representing 7 nations.

Source www.ciclopico.it - full article and other statistical curiosities at the link https://ciclopico.it/pillole/giro-di-sardegna-2026/