The classic season is now behind us and therefore, with growing enthusiasm, the time has finally come to turn our attention to the major stage races, focusing in particular on the imminent 109th Giro d'Italia which will start this Friday from Nessebar.

The Corsa Rosa will be the first of three weeks on the calendar and, as such, will allow those who take part to potentially accumulate large quantities of UCI points which, as we now well know, are essential and increasingly sought-after currency in contemporary professional road cycling.

In detail, the RCS event will award points to the first 60 riders in the final general classification, the first 3 classified in the pink jersey and white jersey standings, the first 15 athletes in each stage and 20 points for each day spent in the pink jersey, a decidedly substantial prize pool that will certainly appeal to some teams, considering the current situation in this year's team ranking (the first of the 2026/2028 three-year cycle).

The annual standings, four days before the start in Bulgaria, in the top five positions sees in order UAE Team Emirates-XRG (13,196.5 points), Red Bull BORA hansgrohe (which moved thanks especially to Remco Evenepoel from occupying 8th place last May to 2nd this year with 10,121 points), Team Visma Lease a Bike (8,730 points), Decathlon CMA CGM (which jumped due to the Seixas phenomenon from 13th position at the beginning of May 2025 to 4th position in May 2026) and the always convincing XDS Astana (6,654 points), but they will not be the very first interested in the substantial pool of UCI points at stake during the three weeks of the Giro.

In fact, the teams that will approach the Giro from 17th position downward will be even more attentive and focused on obtaining the maximum number of points possible, as they have the need to take advantage of this excellent opportunity they will have in their hands this month for various reasons.

Pinarello Q36.5 (17th with 3,667 points), Tudor Pro Cycling (20th with 3,168) and the debutant Unibet Rose Rockets (which moved from 25th place at the beginning of May 2025 to 21st in these days with 2,983 points) are all fighting to be among the top three ProTeams at the end of 2026, an achievement that would guarantee the automatic possibility of participating in all World Tour events (Grand Tours included) and for which therefore maximizing participation in the Corsa Rosa is fundamental.

At the moment, ahead of them, holding the title of best team in the category is Cofidis (12th with 4,158) which has voluntarily decided to skip the Giro d'Italia, effectively opening the doors to participation by Bas Tietema's team which, with the lineup chosen for the three weeks of the Giro, could take advantage of the opportunity to overtake one or both of the Swiss teams which, for their part, will instead understandably seek to repel the assault of the French.

Further down the team standings, motivated not to let slip the Italian opportunity will be Team Picnic PostNL which, with 30th place and 1,143 points at the beginning of May 2026 (figures well below the 2,493 points and 21st position of the same period in 2025), is the worst-placed World Tour team in the standings and, in terms of Italy, Polti VisitMalta and Bardiani CSF 7 Saber.

The two Italian teams, as in 2025, are in full battle to conclude the season in the top 30 of the ranking and thus be eligible again for invitations to the major stage races of the following season, an objective that, considering the greater number of contenders and their results so far, obliges both to draw the maximum benefit possible from the stage on which they will find themselves competing from May 8 to 31.

From this point of view, it must be said that, with 1,387 points (almost double the 786 with which it presented itself at the Giro 365 days ago) and 27th position in the standings, the team of Ivan Basso and Alberto Contador is certainly in a more comfortable position compared to that of Bruno and Roberto Reverberi which, by virtue of the 764 points accumulated so far and thanks to the good season so far of teams outside the top 30 in 2025 such as Solution Tech NIPPO Rali (25th with 1,542 points and author of an April with over 1,200 points), Euskaltel-Euskadi (28th with 1,321) and Roojai Insurance Winspace (best Continental team with 1,163 points and 29th place in the standings), will launch from the starting blocks of the Corsa Rosa from 35th position.

Both, regardless of their starting situation, will in any case have the opportunity in the coming three weeks to improve their ranking and make decisive steps forward in their endeavor by facing with courage and determination a challenge that last year rewarded them, at the end of the three weeks, with 412 and 448 points that proved decidedly useful for securing the possibility (which then materialized) of lining up again this year at the start of the most prestigious Italian race in the world.