Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar emphatically won the Giro d’Italia on his debut when he retained his unassailable overall lead after Sunday’s 21st and final stage in Rome, winning by the biggest overall margin since 1965.
The 25-year-old UAE Team Emirates rider had been in the leader’s pink jersey since winning stage two, the first of his six stage successes, and finished Sunday’s ceremonial 125km flat run safely in the bunch as Tim Merlier won the stage.
“I am speechless, it’s hard to describe this moment, it’s amazing,” Pogacar said. “A lot of nice memories for sure, in a while I will see which one was the best moment, but I think in general it was a really beautiful Giro.”
Photo: Reuters
Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) outsprinted Italy’s Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) as the Belgian won his third stage. Milan had made his way back to the front for the bunch sprint after crashing on the last lap around the Eternal City.
“For the people it’s a really big win, but for myself, it feels a bit strange because everybody was already on the plane yesterday, drinking beer and everything,” Merlier said. “Today we need to race. The first part easy, then it was full gas. For me this kind of race is a bit special, for sprinters a really nice victory.”
Milan, the winner of three stages, had the consolation of winning the points classification, ahead of Australian Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) who finished third on the final stage.
Pogacar finished 9 minutes, 56 seconds ahead of Colombia’s Daniel Martinez (BORA-Hansgrohe), with last year’s runner-up Geraint Thomas of Wales (Ineos Grenadiers) a further 28 seconds behind in third in the overall standings.
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