Appenninica MTB Stage Race 2026 will be remembered as the year of the comebacks. Every day brings a new twist; every stage, an athlete rising from the previous day’s disappointment. It happened again on Thursday June 25 on the Mountain Queen Stage, from Riolunato to Castelnovo ne’ Monti.
The most eagerly awaited day of the week went to yesterday’s great unlucky: Riccardo Chiarini. The 42-year-old from Faenza had victory in his hands in Riolunato, only for his chain to betray him in the final kilometres. Fate, it turned out, had something far greater in store – the Queen Stage, 91 km and 2,900 metres of climbing. A win made even more special for the former road cyclist by the setting: the very same piazza where Richard Carapaz claimed his Giro d’Italia stage glory a year ago.
Chiarini, Vincenzo Saitta and Hans Becking each got what they came for in Castelnovo ne’ Monti. The stage win went to Chiarini, overall control stayed with Saitta, and Becking reopened his podium fight.
Stage 4 opened much like Stage 3, with Chiarini forcing the pace from the gun. The Faenza rider went clear on the first climb but was quickly brought back by the favourites – Vincenzo Saitta, Emanuele Spica, Luca Cacchi and Marek Sülzle. Becking chose to trust his gut and ride his own race, working his way up gradually.
At the front, Cacchi made a move to shed his companions, but was reeled in before eventually losing the lead group to the heat and fatigue. Spica was the first to crack, though he managed to keep things together and limit his losses. Saitta and Chiarini held firm at the top with Sülzle on their wheels, and with 20 kilometres to go Becking completed his comeback to the front.
The three rode the finale as a unit, sharing turns smoothly – each with his own objective, and the outcome satisfied all of them.
Chiarini crossed the line for Torpado Kenda FSA in 4:26:51, with Saitta one second back and Becking at three. Sülzle conceded 47 seconds; Spica finished fifth at 9:34, ahead of Cacchi at 12:51.
“I’m over the moon – this one meant everything to me,” said Chiarini at the finish. “Yesterday things didn’t go my way, but honestly, if I’d won then I wouldn’t have come back today with this kind of fire. I needed to try again. I was lucky to find an agreement with Vincenzo and Hans in the finale, and I have to thank them – giving up a Queen Stage win isn’t something you do lightly. The stage for me, the time gaps for them.”
Today’s result all but seals the Barbieri PNK Blue Jersey. Saitta leads by 9:36 over Sülzle, who has been rock-solid throughout the whole week. The podium fight, however, is anything but settled: Becking is third at 9:42, just six seconds behind the German, while Spica sits fourth at 12:20 with 2:38 to make up. The battle for fifth looks equally fierce – Cacchi holds just 37 seconds over Chiarini going into the final stage.
“Today we needed to stay at the front and keep things under control,” said Saitta. “Chiarini pushed early on, we came back together and rode as a group from there. In the finale we had an agreement: I locked down the overall, Riccardo won the stage. He deserved it.”
Among the Masters, Oscar Pujol took his second stage win of the race in 5:01:56, while Juul Van Loon remains firmly in command of the overall standings. In the Gran Masters, Jon Roberts‘ winning streak finally comes to an end – the queen stage goes to Mirko Pirazzoli in 5:41:33, though the Welshman holds on to lead the category. Emiel Kunkeler took the Great Grand Masters stage in 7:10:54, with Bernd Büdenbender still leading overall.