Paul Magnier and Guillermo Thomas Silva were the two main protagonists of the Giro d'Italia 2026 stages held in Bulgaria. The young Frenchman signed a splendid double and thus brought to 81 the victories of his nation in the history of the Corsa Rosa, of which 17 in the 150 stages disputed since 2019 onwards. There have now been 8 consecutive editions in which the French have won at least one stage. Magnier was also the first Frenchman to win one of the 47 individual stages of the Giro with start and finish outside Italian borders. France had never won two of the first three stages in the history of the Corsa Rosa.

Guillermo Thomas Silva, by winning in Veliko Tarnovo, wrote a historic page for Uruguayan cycling, becoming the first rider from his country to win a stage at the Giro d'Italia and to wear the pink jersey. Thus rising to 37 the nations with at least one partial victory and to 31 those that have worn the symbol of leadership.

The best results for Italian cycling were Jonathan Milan's 2nd place in Sofia and Giulio Ciccone's 3rd in Veliko Tarnovo. In the 71 times in which the Giro started with a road stage, Italy has overall conquered 53 victories, but the last one dates back to 2003, when Alessandro Petacchi won in Lecce. In the 6 subsequent occasions there have been only foreign victories.

Source www.ciclopico.it - full article and other statistical curiosities at the link https://ciclopico.it/grandi-giri/giro-ditalia/statistiche-giro-ditalia-2026-tappa-3/