We knew it was going to be close. Three weeks of racing in the 2020 Giro d’Italia – chills and spills and thrills – and we have the maglia rosa decided on the final day. It is all up for grabs. At the end of Stage 20, it was mano a mano between Tao Geoghegan Hart from Ineos and Jai Hindley from Sunweb. Jai took some intermediate sprint seconds and TGH won the stage. And it is now a dead heat going into tomorrow’s ITT.
So what the hell happened today?
Today’s stage wasn’t as originally planned, in that France said ‘Non’ to the peloton riding up and down their mountains, so they settled on three times up Sestriere. The received wisdom from the pundits was that Wilco Kelderman would keep the maglia rosa and that Tao Geoghegan Hart and Jai Hindley would arrive at the line with the leader and it will all be decided in the time trial. That last bit was right.
How it began
How it finished
Kelderman loses the maglia rosa, it’s down to TGH and Hindley.
Hindley tried but couldn’t shake Ineos off. They went to the line together
Highlights of the stage
Another instalment of Guys in Cars Yelling
“It’s extremely close.” Obviously, TGH has had training in the understatement department.
A tiny frisson of doubt in this tweet as to if the TT will be held in Milan at all … not sure what that’s about, but this year, I wouldn’t be surprised.
Some Jai lovin’
Phantom of the Stage
Rohan Dennis picked up where he left off on the Stelvio – ripping the legs off everyone but TGH and Hindley.
Let’s talk about Ineos’s budget in a bit and see if there really needs to be a whip round for beers.
Mavis, I think you might have let the secret out of the bag.
Busting the budget
This might just be where the budget of Ineos Grenadiers (in the zillions) puts a few extra seconds on TGH’s finishing time.
And I betcha dollars to donuts that they will be greeted at their hotel by a waiter with a tray of Ferrero Rocher.
Will it come down to a skinsuit?
Possibly the funniest tweet exchange of the day. Possibly.
Anyone got a crystal ball?
The received wisdom is that TGH will win this tomorrow. He might. But then again, let us not forget …
Final thoughts
Stage 20 Results
1 Tao Geoghegan Hart (Ineos Grenadiers) 4:52:45
2 Jai Hindley (Team Sunweb) same time
3 Rohan Dennis (Ineos Grenadiers) +0:25
4 Joao Almeida (Deceuninck QuickStep) +1:01
5 Andrea Vendrame (Ag2r La Mondiale) +1:34
GC Top 10
1 Jai Hindley (Team Sunweb) +85:22:07
2 Tao Geoghegan Hart (Ineos Grenadiers) same time (!)
3 Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb) +1:32
4 Pello Bilbao (Bahrain McLaren) +2:51
5 João Almeida (Deceuninck-Quickstep) +3:14
6 Jakob Fuglsang (Astana Pro Team) +6:32
7 Vincenzo Nibali (Trek-Segafredo) +7:46
8 Patrick Konrad (Bora-Hansgrohe) +8:05
9 Fausto Masnada (Deceuninck-Quickstep) +9:24
10 Hermann Pernsteiner (Bahrain McLaren) +10:08
All the jerseys
Leader’s jersey Jai Hindley (Team Sunweb)
Points jersey Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ)
King of the Mountains Ruben Guerreiro (EF Ducks)
Best Young Rider Jai Hindley (Team Sunweb)
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Official race website: Giro d’Italia
Header image: ©GETTY/Velo/Tim de Waele