The climb was arduous and seemingly endless, and with a summit finish approaching followed by a rest day, it was time for the GC battle to kick off in earnest, with a gradually thinning group of favourites giving us our first glimpse into the heart of the GC battle — who would stand up to the test, and who would fall by the wayside?

Stage 14 — Santena — Turin km — how did I love stage 14? Let me count the ways. The shortest stage of the race featured circuits of Turin with vicious climbs, the GC contenders with no choice but to get involved, riders all over the road, pure chaos and balls-out attacking.

Every grand tour should have a stage like this. I bloody loved it. I waxed lyrical in an earlier piece about a stage win I enjoyed, for many reasons my partisan feelings for Jumbo Visma the primary driver behind the piece. With hindsight however, there are a few stage victories that stood out because of their meaning, to the individual, the team, or the sport as a whole.

These were my picks:. Thomas De Gendt Lotto Soudal — Stage 8 — a full decade after his first Giro stage win atop the Stelvio, the iconoclastic Belgian did what he does best, but in quite uncharacteristic style, as the criterium-style race around Naples became the perfect launching pad for a breakaway attack.

He was able to stay away from his break mates as well as the pursuring spectre of van der Poel and Girmay to seal the deal, at the age of His victory had a sense of inevitability about it.

He came close many times: beaten to the line by MVDP on stage 1, he proceeded to be out of position in several bunch sprint finishes but he was not daunted and kept at it, undaunted.

It finally happened on stage 10, a stage perfectly designed for his capabilities, with a short climb leading to a reduced bunch sprint finish, where he was able to turn the tables on van der Poel and take a sweet victory for himself, his team and the die-hard Eritrean fans celebrating at home.

And everyone liked this. Giulio Ciccone Trek-Segafredo — Stage 15 — times were tough for Ciccone in Riding as a GC rider for Trek at both the Giro and the Vuelta, he was caught up in crashes and unable to complete either race, let alone show himself at his best.

Without the pressure of GC Ciccone seems to ride with more freedom and panache, and the victory kicked off a gripping battle with Koen Bouwman for the king of the mountains jersey which saw him animating the following stages too. He worked tirelessly to try and close the gap to Ciccone and proved that second place is sometimes the worst place to finish.

His disappointment spurred him on to once again go on up the road in stage 17, but his day was almost over when he misjudged a turn and he came off his bike early in the day. His anger at the mistake was the final push he needed to ride away and take a fantastic first grand tour stage win, at the age of just The four-man group, also featuring Edoardo Affini TJV , Magnus Cort EF Education-EasyPost , and Davide Gabburo Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè worked brilliantly as a team to put the win beyond a doubt, and de Bondt was able to seal the deal.

His joy following the stage was a true delight. What did MVDP NOT do at the Giro? He was the first man to wear the maglia rosa. He animated almost every stage at some point or other, from punchy finishes to sprint stages, the second stage time trial where he almost won despite having only completed a handful in his career, to full-on mountain stages, where he defied those who doubted him by heading off in breakaways, getting some training in and even making it over a category one climb and halfway up another one at the front of the race, on stage He rode in his usual inimitable style, ripping up the rulebook and providing great entertainment both for fans on the ground and for us watching from a distance via social media.

There were the daily gruppetto wheelies, as he rode up climbs on one wheel, with one hand, high-fiving the crowd. He even wheelied into the stadium on a TT bike on the final stage, like the king he is.

And of course, finally winning the Most Combative Rider prize. What a guy. Kämna stated his intent from day 1. He was the second man to attack up the final climb at Visegrád, after Lawrence Naesen, and his attack looked as though it might stick for a while. He sat in the hot-seat after a brilliant time trial on stage 2, coming in 8 th on the stage eventually.

He won stage 4 up Mount Etna, wore the King of the Mountains jersey for three days and combativity numbers on more than one occasion.

Part of a breakaway group of attackers, Kämna dropped back and when Hindley launched his attack on the Marmolada, Kämna was there to offer him a helping hand, playing the role of both bridge and slingshot, as he supported Hindley at the crucial moment, and allowed him to dig in and extend his lead even further.

This is not a dream Dries, this is real. Great Job! Back-to-back stage victories for Alpecin-FENIX at the 4 Jours de Dunkerque Alpecin-FENIX closed six intense days of racing at 4 Jours de Dunkerque, in northern France, with two stage wins from Lionel Taminiaux and Gianni Vermeersch.

Samuel Gaze wins the short track in the UCI Mountain Bike Word Cup New Zealander cyclist Samuel Gaze made a great return to the top level of the mountain bike discipline after a knee surgery.

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Cycling Giro d'Italia. By Felix Lowe. Winner turned provider on Thursday as the man we usually associate with standing atop the podium rolled home eight minutes down but all smiles after his team-mate Stefano Oldani took his first ever professional win in the streets of Genova.

Find out who the participants and all the teams of the edition of the Giro d'Italia are and get ready to support the cyclists in the pink race 3 time trials and 6 mountain stages will determine the winner of Giro d'Italia A route check of the tour of Italy The Giro d'Italia was the th edition of the Giro d'Italia, a three-week Grand Tour cycling stage race. The race started on 6 May in Budapest

Giro del Fénix - Dries de Bondt wins the 18th stage of the Giro d'Italia after a thrilling final sprint against other four riders. The Belgian cyclist of the Find out who the participants and all the teams of the edition of the Giro d'Italia are and get ready to support the cyclists in the pink race 3 time trials and 6 mountain stages will determine the winner of Giro d'Italia A route check of the tour of Italy The Giro d'Italia was the th edition of the Giro d'Italia, a three-week Grand Tour cycling stage race. The race started on 6 May in Budapest

Stage 12 highlights: Oldani wins from breakaway trio as Alpecin-Fenix take second win. Stefano Oldani of Italy and Team Alpecin - Fenix, Gijs Leemreize of Netherlands and Team Jumbo - Visma and Lorenzo Rota of Italy and Team Intermarché - Wanty - Gobert Matériaux compete in the breakaway during the th Giro d'Italia , Stage Yesterday at Watch Results.

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Ski Jumping. His joy following the stage was a true delight. What did MVDP NOT do at the Giro? He was the first man to wear the maglia rosa. He animated almost every stage at some point or other, from punchy finishes to sprint stages, the second stage time trial where he almost won despite having only completed a handful in his career, to full-on mountain stages, where he defied those who doubted him by heading off in breakaways, getting some training in and even making it over a category one climb and halfway up another one at the front of the race, on stage He rode in his usual inimitable style, ripping up the rulebook and providing great entertainment both for fans on the ground and for us watching from a distance via social media.

There were the daily gruppetto wheelies, as he rode up climbs on one wheel, with one hand, high-fiving the crowd. He even wheelied into the stadium on a TT bike on the final stage, like the king he is. And of course, finally winning the Most Combative Rider prize.

What a guy. Kämna stated his intent from day 1. He was the second man to attack up the final climb at Visegrád, after Lawrence Naesen, and his attack looked as though it might stick for a while.

He sat in the hot-seat after a brilliant time trial on stage 2, coming in 8 th on the stage eventually. He won stage 4 up Mount Etna, wore the King of the Mountains jersey for three days and combativity numbers on more than one occasion.

Part of a breakaway group of attackers, Kämna dropped back and when Hindley launched his attack on the Marmolada, Kämna was there to offer him a helping hand, playing the role of both bridge and slingshot, as he supported Hindley at the crucial moment, and allowed him to dig in and extend his lead even further.

Jai Hindley Bora-Hansgrohe — The Australian won the Giro, so it seems unfair not to include him. He asserted his dominance in the mountains, beginning with a win on Blockhaus that struck the first psychological blow to his rivals. He was comfortably part of the main group of contenders on the crazy stage around Turin, and never allowed Carapaz, Landa and the others out of his sight as the race drew on.

He calmly executed a decent time trial on the final day to put his victory to bed and was able to celebrate becoming the first Australian winner of the Giro, and only the second winner of a Grand Tour ever from the nation.

We all went on a journey as he grew into wearing one of the most revered jerseys in the sport; who could forget his shy suggestion that the peloton might stop so he could take a comfort break?

And his vast range of emotions, from tears, to anger, to joy reflected the emotional rollercoaster we all enter into every year when we follow a grand tour.

More of this, please! Hugh Carthy EF Education-EasyPost — the lanky Lancastrian quite literally rode himself into the Giro. Carthy is made for week 3 of the Giro, and he set about inserting himself into every breakaway going in an effort to try and add to his palmares.

And in a surprising addition, his heart-rate became a constant source of interest especially when it was -1 — see Whoop data, at the end of the post.

Gijs Leemreize Team Jumbo Visma — another young Dutchman benefitting from the lack of GC action from his team leaders, Leemreize was frequently a part of breakaway action and almost made it count on stage 18, when he went all the way to the line on the stage won by Dries de Bondt.

He dropped Mathieu van der Poel on a climb on stage 17, and once again came close to a win. Another one to add to the watch list. Davide Formolo UAE Team Emirates — how can you not love Davide Formolo? Lining up daily at the head of the peloton, shooting the breeze with race director Stefano Allocchio, working for his team mates, for the peloton and sometimes just because he loves to work.

Wilco Kelderman BORA-Hansgrohe — the perennial nearly-man suffered a crash on stage 9 of the race which he blamed on his disc brakes. Thymen Arensman Team DSM — the young Dutchman put in a strong effort following the departure of his team leader Romain Bardet, securing 4th place in the young rider competition and proving why he has been snapped up by Ineos.

He rode maturely in the mountains, snapping up 2 nd place on stage 16 and 5 th on stage 20, before putting in the second best performance of the day on the final time trial.

Domenico Pozzovivo Intermarché—Wanty—Gobert Matériaux — the veteran Italian rode his 14 th Giro this year and while it seems that the stars of the sport are getting younger year on year, those more long in the tooth have been proving this season that they still have plenty of appetite for battle.

With his impressive ride on Blockhaus, Pozzovivo put himself in contention on GC and forced himself back into the public imagination. His crash on the descent from the Mortirolo on stage 16, a grim reminder of his horror crash in the Giro, sadly set him back, but he was thankfully unharmed and still able to go on to secure 8 th spot on the GC in the end.

Alessandro Covi UAE Team Emirates — he won a stage, but still belongs on the Unsung Heroes list for me, as his incredible victory on the Marmolada went largely unnoticed due to the broader, more crucial narrative of the GC being decided on the slopes up to the summit finish of Passo Fedaia.

What a stage win to be so overlooked though… Covi headed off solo on the 2 nd major climb of the day with over 50km remaining on the stage. He ascended the Passo Pordoi alone, snapping up the Cima Coppi points for his troubles, and that, as they say, was that.

Neither his breakaway companions nor the GC contenders saw him again that day as he rode magnificently, alone and without assistance over thousands of metres of ascent, to his first grand tour victory.

And that was mightily unjust. So here I am, celebrating an immense performance. GO ON COVI, MY SON! And some other things happened! The two newfound rivals butted heads almost every day right up until the moment when Girmay had to leave the Giro.

His win was acknowledged with a thumbs up from van der Poel, and the first chapter in this new head-to-head was concluded. Mikel Landa crashes into his own team mate.

Finally, fans of Landismo had something to shout about, as the Spaniard looked in good shape and went toe-to-toe with the other GC contenders and was genuinely in with a chance of winning. De Gendt GC — when two De Gendts — Thomas Lotto Soudal and Aimé Intermarché lined up for the Grande Partenza , little did we know we were in for a contest-within-a-contest based on name alone.

GC battle for best De Gendt in the race. When Aimé responded in kind after stage 5, the De Gendt rivalry was born. Sprinters dropped! They still did end in sprints, but the pace was too tough for some and Arnaud Démare became the primary beneficiary, his Groupama-FDJ team masters at keeping him in touch even on tough climbs.

On stage 11 it worked out, with Démare snatching victory when one link in the breakaway group blinked, and their day was done. Stage 18 though was a different story see above.

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