Everyone knew what was coming, most of all Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz, the race leader of the 102nd Giro d’Italia. Saturday’s final mountain stage was the last real chance for someone to challenge him and he was determined that it was not going to happen.
And it didn’t.
There were multiple breakaway attempts, but Carapaz rode with all of them. Colombia’s Miguel Angel Lopez attacked as the race climbed to the highest point of the entire Giro d’Italia, the 2,047 m (6,716 feet!) Passo Manghen, which dropped Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic and Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali, but Carapaz stayed close.
Italy’s Fauto Masnada crossed the top of the peak in front and continued the lead on the long descent. Nibali made it back to the chasing group (including Carapaz) and Carapaz simply stayed with the Italian star over the next-to-last climb, the Passo Rolle, to stay out of trouble.
The final climb to the finish up the Croce d’Aune saw multiple attacks and multiple crashes. A fan running alongside Spain’s Lopez fell into him when he collided with another fan with about 5 km left. Lopez slapped him aside as he recovered and continued riding, but it took him out of contention.
Roglic also had fan issues as one spectator tried to help him up the Croce d’Aune by pushing him! Roglic didn’t seem to mind the support and for allowing the push was penalized 10 seconds by the race jury afterwards.
In the meantime, Nibali attacked with 4 km left and then again with 1.8 km remaining, but could not shake Carapaz. There were six riders in the front group now and Spain’s Pello Bailbao came around the group to pass Mikel Landa (ESP) at the line for the stage win.
However, Carapaz maintain his lead of 1:54 over Nibali, with Landa now third (+2:53) and Roglic fourth (+3:06). There’s little doubt that Carapaz will win now – the first from Ecuador to win the Giro d’Italia – although Nibali will likely close the final gap. Look for Roglic to pass Landa for third in the final standings thanks to his great ability in time trials. Summaries so far:
UCI World Tour/Giro d’Italia
Italy ~ 11 May-2 June 2019
(Full results here)
Stage 1 (8.0 km Time Trial): 1. Primoz Roglic (SLO), 12:54; 2. Simon Yates (GBR), 13:13; 3. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA), 13:17; 4. Miguel Angel Lopez (COL), 13:22; 5. Tom Dumoulin (NED), 13:22. Also in the top 25: 21. Chad Haga (USA), 13:48.
Stage 2 (205.0 km): 1. Pascal Ackermann (GER), 4:44:43; 2. Elia Viviani (ITA), 4:44:43; 3. Caleb Ewan (AUS), 4:44:43; 4. Fernando Gaviria (COL), 4:44:43; 5. Arnaud Demare (FRA), 4:44:43.
Stage 3 (220.0 km): 1. Gaviria (COL), 5:23:19; 2. Demare (FRA), 5:23:19; 3. Ackermann (GER), 5:23:19; 4. Matteo Moschetti (ITA), 5;23:19; 5. Giocomo Nizzolo (ITA), 5:23:19. (Viviani (ITA) won the race, but was disqualified for impeding another rider at the finish.)
Stage 4 (235.0 km): 1. Richard Carapaz (ECU), 5:58:17; 2. Ewan (AUS), 5:58:17; 3. Diego Ulissi (ITA), 5:58:17; 4. Ackermann (GER), 5:58:19; 5. Florian Senechal (FRA), 5:58:19.
Stage 5 (140.0 km): 1. Ackermann (GER), 3:15:44; 2. Gaviria (COL), 3:15:44; 3. Demare (FRA), 3:15:44; 4. Ewan (AUS), 3:15:44; 5. Matteo Moschetti (ITA), 3:15:44. Also in the top 25: 13. Sean Bennett (USA), 3:15:44
Stage 6 (238.0 km): 1. Fausto Masnada (ITA), 5:45:01; 2. Valerio Conti (ITA), 5:45:06; 3. Jose Joaquin Rojas (ESP), 5:45:39; 4. Ruben Plaza (ESP), 5:45:39; 5. Giovanni Carboni (ITA), 5:45:44. Also in the top 25: 20. Brent Bookwalter (USA), 5:52:20.
Stage 7 (185.0 km): 1. Pello Bilbao (ESP), 4:06:27; 2. Tony Gallopin (FRA), 4:06:32; 3. Davide Formolo (ITA), 4:06:32; 4. Lucas Hamilton (AUS), 4:06:36; 5. Mattia Cattaneo (ITA), 4:06:36. Also in the top 25: 23. Joe Dombrowski (USA), 4:07:34.
Stage 8 (239.0 km): 1. Ewan (AUS), 5:43:32; 2. Viviani (ITA), 5:43:32; 3. Ackermann (GER), 5:43:32; 4. Fabio Sabatini (ITA), 5:43:32; 5. Manuel Belletti (ITA), 5:43:32.
Stage 9 (34.8 km Time Trial): 1. Roglic (SLO), 51:52; 2. Victor Campenaerts (BEL), 52:03; 3. Bauke Mollema (NED), 52:52; 4. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA), 53:57; 5. Tanel Kangert (EST), 53:02. Also in the top 25: 6. Haga (USA), 53:06.
Stage 10 (145.0 km): 1. Demare (FRA), 3:36:07; 2. Viviani (ITA), 3:36:07; 3. Rudiger Selig (GER), 3:36:07; 4. Ewan (AUS), 3:36:07; 5. Nizzolo (ITA), 3:36:07. Also in the top 25: Bennett (USA), 3:36:07.
Stage 11 (221.0 km): 1. Ewan (AUS), 5:17:26; 2. Demare (FRA), 5:17:26; 3. Ackermann (GER), 5:17:26; 4. Viviani (ITA), 5:17:26; 5. Davide Cimolai (ITA), 5:17:26. Also in the top 25: 10. Bennett (USA), 5:17:26.
Stage 12 (158.0 km): 1. Cesare Benedetti (ITA), 3:41:49; 2. Damiano Caruso (ITA), 3:41:49; 3. Eddie Dunbar (IRL), 3:41:49; 4. Gianluca Brambilla (ITA), 3:41:51; 5. Eros Capecchi (ITA), 3:41:55.
Stage 13 (196.0 km): 1. Ilnur Zakarin (RUS), 5:34:40; 2. Mikel Nieve (ESP), 5:35:15; 3. Mikel Landa (ESP), 5:36:00; 4. Carapaz (ECU), 5:36:18; 5. Bauke Mollema (NED), 5:36:25. Also in the top 25: 13. Dombrowski (USA), 5:39:05.
Stage 14 (131.9 km): 1. Carapaz (ECU), 4:02:23; 2. S. Yates (GBR), 4:03:55; 3. Nibali (ITA), 4:04:17; 4. Rafal Majka (POL), 4:04:17; 5. Mikel Landa (ESP), 4:04:17. Also in the top 25: 9. Dombrowski (USA), 4:04:17; … 24. Sepp Kuss (USA), 4:09:43.
Stage 15 (232.0 km): 1. Dario Cataldo (ITA), 5:48:15; 2. Mattia Cattaneo (ITA), 5:48:15; 3. S. Yates (GBR), 5:48:26; 4. Hugh Carthy (GBR), 5:48:26; 5. Carapaz (ECU), 5:48:26. Also in the top 25: 22. Dombrowski (USA), 5:50:22.
Stage 16 (194.0 km): 1. Giulio Ciccone (ITA), 5:36:24; 2. Jan Hirt (CZE), 5:36:24; 3. Masnada (ITA), 5:37:44; 4. Nibali (ITA), 5:38:05; 5. Carthy (GBR), 5:38:05. Also in the top 25: 8. Dombrowski (USA), 5:38:05.
Stage 17 (181.0 km): 1. Nans Peters (FRA), 4:41:34; 2. Esteban Chaves (COL), 4:43:08; 3. Formolo (ITA), 4:43:25; 4. Masnada (ITA), 4:43:25; 5. Krists Neilands (LAT), 4:43:25.
Stage 18 (222.0 km): 1. Damiano Cima (ITA), 4:56:04; 2. Ackermann (GER), 4:56:04; 3. Simone Consonni (ITA), 4:56:04; 4. Florian Senechal (FRA), 4:56:04; 5. Ryan Gibbons (RSA), 4:56:04. Also in the top 25: 9. Bennett (USA), 4:56:04.
Stage 19 (151.0 km): 1. Chaves (COL), 4:01:31; 2. Andrea Vendrame (ITA), 4:01:41; 3. Amaro Antunes (POR), 4:01:43; 4. Giovanni Carboni (ITA), 4:01:55; 5. Pieter Serry (BEL), 4:02:03.
Stage 20 (194.0 km): 1. Pello Bilbao (ESP), 5:46:02; 2. Landa (ESP), 5:46:02; 3. Ciccone (ITA), 5:46:04; 4. Carapaz (ECU), 5:46:06; 5. Nibali (ITA), 5:46:06. Also in the top 25: 21. Dombrowski (USA), 5:49:27.
02 June: Stage 21 (17.0 km Time Trial) ~ Verona to Verona
