(Photo: Tim de Waele – Getty Images)
What a race we have just witnessed. A movie, a drama, a thriller from beginning to end. [Line redacted – see Velonews] No one – no one in the world would’ve predicted this just three weeks ago. Fugslang, Nibali, and Thomas outside of the Top 5. Hindley and Geoghegen Hart fighting for the win, Démare with four stage wins, and Ineos with seven. Geoghegen Hart crushes the final time trial and becomes the second British winner of the Giro d’Italia.
I almost can’t believe it. In all my years of following professional cycling (which is probably a measly 10), this has been the most unpredictable Grand Tour from start to finish. And I think it was far more exciting than this year’s Tour de France.
Both came down to the final time trial, but the Giro had more thrilling wins, injury heartbreak, and straight-up surprises. Filippo Ganna is on another level. There is not one that can even get close to him in a TT less than 20km. Anything under 40km and he’ll still win, but it’ll be closer – just a little bit.
Many called out the Giro field as ‘soft’ compared to the Tour. Sagan was expected to win at least two stages, considering the sprint field quality. He only managed one, but boy was it spectacular. Soloing away on the final climb after nearly 100km in the breakaway, on a hilly Tirreno-esque stage that turned into a GC battle 30 seconds being the Slovakian, but Sagan still held them off.
Brandon McNulty looked so good for so long, but then lost 30 minutes on the stage over the Stelvio. It’d be harsh to criticize the American’s finishing form – he’s still only 22 and in his neo-pro season at the WorldTour level. In 2020, he hardly saw any racing until the fall, but his raw talent is clear. 3rd in Stage 14’s TT and 8th on the final day are confirmation of a TT specialist with serious GC potential. As evidenced by the top two steps of the podium in Milan, just because you’re under 25 doesn’t mean you can’t win a Grand Tour.
Have we ever seen a larger spread from first to last at the conclusion of a Grand Tour? Jonathon Dibben (Lotto-Soudal) finished 6 hours 13 minutes and 59 seconds behind Tao Geoghegen Hart at the end of 21 stages in Italy. Usually it’s three to four hours to the lanterne rouge. Dibben lost an average of 17 minutes 48 seconds on each stage. But the range is even more incredible. Stage 18 was the furthest behind that Dibben (and anyone else) finished a stage and was still within the time cut: 50 minutes 58 seconds after Hindley best Geoghegen Hart in the sprint at Laghi di Cancano, Dibben crossed the line in 127th place on the stage. An incredible display of fortitude, perseverance, and on-the-fly calculations, I’d say.
Here’s one final statistic for you: Pello Bilbao raced 44 out of 57 days from August 29th to October 25th this year. That’s two Grand Tours – the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia – plus the World Championships Time Trial and Road Race in Imola.
The Spaniard didn’t just ride the races either – He finished 16th Overall at the Tour while working for Mikel Landa, including an 11th place finish on the grand Colombier, and a 12th in the final time trial to La Planche des Belles Filles. A few days later he was at the Worlds, where he finished 20th in the TT and 26th in the Road Race. A week later he was in Palermo for the start of the Giro d’Italia, where he grabbed two Top-10s in the first five stages, plus a 12th place finish on Mount Etna.
Bilbao was oh-so-close to latching onto Sagan at the end of his solo foray, but the Bahrain-McLaren rider was swallowed up by the GC group after spending over 20km out front. Bilbao went on to score four more Top 10s in the final two weeks of the Giro, including a podium finish Laghi di Cancano. It was 5th in GC at the end for Bilbao, who probably won’t be riding his bike for at least a few weeks. Chapeau!