All roads lead to Rome they say, but my-oh-my WHAT a roller-coaster of a week it took to get there. The Giro is never over until the last finish line is crossed and the final stages spun riders and fans upside down and sideways.
Stage 16
The most eagerly anticipated time trial of the corsa rosa produced a maiden Giro win for BMC’s Rohan Dennis, a career best performance from Fabio Aru (UAE Emirates), the Race Jury speaking clearly and concisely about drafting and some changes in the GC. But not amongst the top three as Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) delivered the performance he needed to limit his losses to Sunweb’s Tom Dumoulin and remain in pink.
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Stage 17
The stage that was full-gas and frantic from the climb at the start to the rain-soaked sprint finale. Elia Viviani took his fourth victory after a cool-as-you-like Quick-Step Floors performance. FOUR-MIDABLE!
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Stage 18
Hallelujah and ring those bells – the break MADE IT! Quick-Step’s young gun Max Schachmann was just too strong for Israel Cycling Academy’s Ruben Plaza atop Prata Nevosa. But the action was all behind him as Simon Yates struggled on the incline and finished with his GC lead slashed by half.
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Stage 19
The day the GC was turned upside down. Simon Yates finally cracked and surrendered the maglia rosa. Chris Froome staged an 80km solo raid to take the race lead.
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Stage 20
Mitchelton-Scott backed Mikel Nieve for the stage victory at the start of the day and the Basque rider delivered – on his birthday! A clearly ill Thibaut Pinot suffered and dropped right out of contention. The final climb of the Giro saw the battle for the white and pink jerseys finally decided.
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Stage 21
Sam Bennett took the sprint honours on the streets of Rome. Chris Froome celebrated his historic triple and the peloton finally gets to paaaartyyyyy – gelato and pizza for everyone darlings!
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Header Image: Tim de Waele/Getty Images