Stage 20 of the Giro d’Italia didn’t deliver any GC fireworks but we were treated to a win for Bahrain-Victorious’s Damiano Caruso. The man who came to support Mikel Landa swapped his bridesmaid’s dress for a full bridal gown (with bouquet!) and soloed to victory, cementing his podium place in the process. Some huge turns from Ineos’s super-domestiques ensured that Egan Bernal was safe and sound. It’s all but certain he’ll be on the top step of the podium when the Giro finishes tomorrow.
We’ve waited for more than two weeks but today, the GC finally caught fire at Stage 18 of the Giro d’Italia. On a monster 207km-long stage packed with four categorised climbs, including the famed Passo dello Stelvio, INEOS and Sunweb brought the race to life. After masterful work by teammates, Tao Geoghegan Hart and Jai Hindley were left to battle it out on the final climb for the stage. In the sprint to the line, Hindley sailed to victory. Behind, Hindley’s teammate Wilco Kelderman clawed his way to the finish with only 12 seconds in hand to claim the maglia rosa.
A fast and furious stage 7 of the Giro d’Italia ended with a first Grand Tour stage win for Astana’s Pello Bilbao. The Basque rider launched a perfectly timed attack in the final kilometre. His rivals hesitated and that was all the advantage he needed to stay ahead of Tony Gallopin (AG2R La Mondiale)and Davide Formolo (BORA-hansgrohe). Valerio Conti and his UAE-Team Emirates team survived a stressful day, with a little help from Trek-Segafredo, to retain the maglia rosa, but there were some changes within the top 10 on GC.