Two-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar won the Giro d’Italia on his first participation. A place in the peloton on the last stage to Rome was enough for the 25-year-old Slovenian. In the overall ranking, Pogačar was almost ten minutes ahead of the Colombian Daniel Martínez, captain of the German team Bora-hansgrohe. Third place went to Welshman Geraint Thomas, who climbed onto the podium like last year. The best German was Simon Geschke, who finished an impressive 14th in his last season as a professional cyclist.
The last stage was won by Belgian Tim Merlier. The 31-year-old sprinter beat Jonathan Milan in the mass finish at the Colosseum, celebrating his third stage win in this Giro and drawing level with the Italian. Only Pogačar had more victories than the duo, with six stage wins in this year’s three-week tour. “It was more or less the perfect Giro,” said the Slovenian.
On the second day, Pogačar took over the leader’s pink jersey and never gave it up again. On the last mountain stage, he secured his sixth day’s victory. Not even Eddy Merckx had managed that in a single Giro.
But the victory in the Tour of Italy is only half the work for Pogačar. Almost half a year ago, Pogačar announced that he wanted to try to win the Giro and the Tour in one season. The last time Marco Pantani managed this was in 1998; currently, such an achievement is hardly considered possible.
Two-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar won the Giro d’Italia on his first participation. A place in the peloton on the last stage to Rome was enough for the 25-year-old Slovenian. In the overall ranking, Pogačar was almost ten minutes ahead of the Colombian Daniel Martínez, captain of the German team Bora-hansgrohe. Third place went to Welshman Geraint Thomas, who climbed onto the podium like last year. The best German was Simon Geschke, who finished an impressive 14th in his last season as a professional cyclist.
