Jonas Vingegaard storms to a fourth Giro summit win, stretching his lead past 4 minutes

CARÌ, Switzerland (AP) — It’s four out of four for Jonas Vingegaard.

The Danish rider soloed to victory at the end of the tough 16th stage of the Giro d’Italia to extend his overall lead to more than four minutes on Tuesday.

It was the fourth mountain-top finish in this year’s race and a fourth win for Vingegaard, who triumphed atop Blockhaus, Corno alle Scale and Pila. It was a first victory for him in the leader’s pink jersey, however.

On Tuesday, Vingegaard attacked halfway up the top-category slog to the finish in Carì, with 6.6 kilometers (4 miles) remaining and no one could stay on the Team Visma-Lease a Bike rider's wheel.

Vingegaard beat Felix Gall by 69 seconds, with Jai Hindley two seconds further back.

“My teammates and myself were very motivated for it — we wanted to try to win in the pink jersey,” Vingegaard said. “And obviously it can also go wrong, so we chose the first option to do it because if we would fail then we would have another one as well.

“It was a very nice, very hard climb," he added. "It’s a long climb, it took around half an hour I guess. Again, my teammates today did an amazing job ... I had to do the rest and I’m happy once again that I can pay off my teammates.”

The 29-year-old Vingegaard is racing in his first Giro in a bid to win all three Grand Tours. He won the Tour de France in 2022 and ’23 and last year clinched his first Spanish Vuelta title.

Gall moved into second overall, 4:03 behind Vingegaard. Thymen Arensman is third, 4:27 behind.

“The second place is super nice,” Gall said. “They (Team Visma-Lease a Bike) showed again who is in charge here, also as a team, and it’s really impressive. And Jonas is, he’s just doing his thing, and yeah…”

Afonso Eulálio, who had worn pink for nine stages before ceding it atop Pila on Saturday, dropped from second to fifth after cracking on the final climb and crossing the line three minutes after Vingegaard.

The stage crossed the border into Switzerland, with five classified climbs on the 113-kilometer (70-mile) route from Bellinzona to Carì.

Wednesday’s 17th stage returns to Italy and is a 202-kilometer (126-mile) route from Cassano d’Adda to Andolo that includes three, third-category climbs.

The Giro ends on Sunday in Rome. The women’s Giro is from May 30 to June 7.

AP cycling: https://apnews.com/hub/cycling

Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard wears the pink jersey of the race overall leader on his way to win the 16th stage of the Giro d'Italia cycling race from Bellinzona to Cari', Switzerland, Tuesday May 26, 2026 (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP)

Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard wears the pink jersey of the race overall leader as he celebrates winning the 16th stage of the Giro d'Italia cycling race from Bellinzona to Cari', Switzerland, Tuesday May 26, 2026. (Massimo Paolone/LaPresse via AP)

Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard wears the pink jersey of the race overall leader, celebrates winning the 16th stage of the Giro d'Italia cycling race from Bellinzona to Cari', Switzerland, Tuesday May 26, 2026. (Massimo Paolone/LaPresse via AP)

The pack rides during the 16th stage of the Giro d'Italia cycling race from Bellinzona to Cari', Switzerland, Tuesday May 26, 2026 (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP)

Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard, wearing the pink jersey of the race overall leader, pedals in the pack during the 16th stage of the Giro d'Italia cycling race from Bellinzona to Cari', Switzerland, Tuesday May 26, 2026 (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP)

Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard wears the pink jersey of the race overall leader on his way to win the 16th stage of the Giro d'Italia cycling race from Bellinzona to Cari', Switzerland, Tuesday May 26, 2026 (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP)

Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard walks past the trophy as he wears the pink jersey of the race overall leader ahead of the 16th stage of the Giro d'Italia cycling race from Bellinzona to Cari', Switzerland, Tuesday May 26, 2026 (Spada/LaPresse via AP)

PARIS (AP) — Parents’ groups in France called Tuesday for more attention to long-ignored child abuse scandals as a rare public trial opened of a school assistant accused of sexually assaulting nine small children in Paris.

Inspired by Gisèle Pelicot ’s decision to make her harrowing drug and rape trial public, the parents of the children agreed to open the proceedings. In France, trials involving minors are usually held behind closed doors.

According to their lawyers, some parents said they were following the example of Pelicot and her motto that “shame must change sides” to abusers, not victims.

The Paris case emerged in April 2025 after several children told their parents they allegedly had been sexually abused at a nursery school.

The defendant, 36, who has not been publicly identified, is accused of assaulting children while supervising them in bathrooms, during lunch breaks and in after-school care between August 2024 and April 2025. He has denied any sexual abuse against children.

The children were between 3 and 5 years old at the time. They do not have to attend the trial. A judge has read their testimonies to investigators.

The defendant is also accused of sexually harassing two co-workers and sexually assaulting one of them. He faces up to 10 years in prison. His lawyer would not speak with The Associated Press before the trial.

Barka Zerouali, co-founder of parents' group MeToo Ecole, or MeToo School, said at a protest outside the courthouse that “there needs to be a national wake-up call at some point." Protesters carried a banner reading: “Because no child should be afraid to go to school.”

Families said the trauma of the alleged assaults was compounded by what they described as a struggle to be taken seriously by authorities. An initial warning raised by a mother months earlier was apparently ignored by the school.

Rebecca Royer, a lawyer representing several families, said that “what we are expecting is a real turning point in child protection, meaning we expect the government and municipalities to implement real measures to protect children, but also to provide real resources."

Similar cases in Paris and across France have drawn media attention in recent months.

Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau last week said investigations were underway involving 84 nursery schools, about 20 elementary schools and about 10 daycare centers in the capital.

Paris Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire said 78 school and after-school staff members have been suspended in the city since the beginning of 2026, including 31 over suspicions of sexual violence.

While teachers in France are employed by the government in state-run schools, school assistants and after-school activity leaders are hired by city authorities.

Grégoire, elected in March, has made combating child abuse an “absolute priority” and unveiled a 20 million euro ($22 million) plan to address what he described as “major dysfunction” in the city’s school supervision system. He pledged to immediately suspend any school employee suspected of abusing children.

Before being elected, Grégoire publicly revealed that he had been sexually abused as a child while attending elementary school between the ages of 9 and 10.

Child abuse became a major issue in the mayoral campaign after a series of allegations involving public schools emerged earlier this year.

Associated Press journalists Nicolas Garriga and Masha Macpherson contributed to this report.

Members and supporters of the #METooEcole (#METooSchool) movement stage a protest to draw attention to a child abuse scandal in France in front of the courthouse in Paris on Tuesday May 26, 2026. One sign reads in French, "Don't drop the case." (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Members and supporters of the #METooEcole (#METooSchool) movement stage a protest to draw attention to a child abuse scandal in France in front of the courthouse in Paris on Tuesday May 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Members and supporters of the #METooEcole (#METooSchool) movement stage a protest to draw attention to a child abuse scandal in France in front of the courthouse in Paris on Tuesday May 26, 2026. The banner reads, in French, "Because no child should ever be afraid to go to school." (AP Photo/Michel Euler)