Britain’s Tao Geoghegan Hart on Sunday won the Giro d’Italia, lifting his first Grand Tour trophy in front of Milan’s Duomo Cathedral after finishing just 39 seconds ahead of Australian Jai Hindley.
The 25-year-old Ineos Grenadiers rider had been neck-and-neck with Hindley going into the 21st and final stage, setting up an unprecedented finale, but it was the Londoner who lifted the trophy thanks to his 13th position in the 15.7km time trial, with Team Sunweb’s Hindley finishing 38th.
Geoghegan Hart’s Italian teammate Filippo Ganna came first in the race against the clock, a seventh stage win for Ineos, who lost team leader Geraint Thomas to a broken pelvis after the third stage.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“It’s been a great fight. Right up until I reached Milan, I didn’t think I was going to win the Giro d’Italia. It’s crazy,” said Geoghegan Hart, the first rider to ever pull on the pink jersey at the finish line. “It’s going to take a long time to sink in. Until the moment I crossed the line, I tried to take it like any other stage or any Sunday ride. It was just about performing, and seeing my family and friends at the finish.”
“I haven’t been home since last year and I’m looking forward to seeing my siblings,” he said. “It’ll be strange to leave the team bubble.”
It was the first podium on a Grand Tour for the English rider, but also for second-placed Hindley and third-placed Dutchman Wilco Kelderman, also of Sunweb.
Geoghegan Hart had won Saturday’s 20th stage, edging Hindley, who wore the pink jersey on the final day thanks to a 0.86 seconds lead over his rival, but the suspense was short-lived as Hindley dropped 22 seconds 10.3km into the stage.
“I did everything I could,” said the 24-year-old, who nevertheless became the first Australian on the Giro podium. “I laid it all out there on the road. There was nothing I could do. I was going as hard as I could. Hopefully, this is just the beginning. This is for sure my best performance ever and hopefully it’s a step in the right direction for things to come.”
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