The road to success in the Giro d’Italia can be a tortuous one. This year, the 184 riders of the 108th edition of the Corsa Rosa raced some 3,500 kilometres. From the Grande Partenza in Albania, almost a month ago, they climbed over 52,000 metres, culminating with the 2,178-metre Colle delle Finestre – this year’s Cima Coppi, the highest summit of the Giro. The final stage in Rome, saw Simon Yates (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) crowned champion. But the Briton’s path to glory in the pink jersey goes back much further than Albania.
Most of the riders in the peloton knew relatively little about Albania as they assembled on the Giro d’Italia start line; this was the country’s first UCI WorldTour race. But what they discovered were magnificent forests, beautiful cities, tricky roads, warm crowds… Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) rose to the occasion, winning two of the first three stages (Joshua Tarling got the other one, an individual time trial in Tirana). As the Giro returned to Italy on the fourth day of racing, Pedersen was resplendant in the pink jersey.
Denmark’s former world champion would claim two further victories (stages 5 and 13). The pure sprinters – Casper van Uden, Kaden Groves and, on two occasions, Olav Kooij – also seized their chances, while attackers such as Luke Plapp, Kasper Asgreen and Nico Denz also got the better of the bunch. Meanwhile, the battle for the overall standings ramped up to an exceptional level.
Raising the stakes
There was not long to wait for the first summit finish – stage 7 to Tagliacozzo. Spain’s rising star Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) seized his opportunity, claiming the stage with a devastating final kick, while seasoned stage-racer, Slovenia’s Primož Roglič (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), donned the Maglia Rosa he had won outright two years earlier.
After just a week’s racing, so much had already happened. But Grand Tours are marathons not sprints. This is a fact that Simon Yates knows only too well – his first participation in the Italian Grand Tour in 2018 saw him dominate the race for two weeks before collapsing completely on a now-legendary stage 19, when his compatriot Chris Froome launched a devastating attack on the slopes of Colle delle Finestre.
The British climber came back later that year to win La Vuelta a España and subsequently podiumed at the Giro (3rd in 2021), but he also suffered a string of setbacks, including abandons after cruel turns of fate. But these experiences steeled him for ultimate victory in Italy while both Ayuso and Roglič were forced to abandon after crashes and injury.
Yates: “The Giro kept calling me back”
Before leaving the race, Ayuso and Roglič witnessed Diego Ulissi (XDS Astana Team) earn a share of Giro glory with a day in the pink jersey before Isaac Del Toro thrust himself into the spotlight. On the treacherous strade bianche (white gravel roads) leading to Siena on stage 9, the young Mexican took off and only Wout van Aert could follow.
The Belgian impressed to take the win he had been chasing in the Giro, while the Mexican, just 21 years of age, stunned the cycling world as he embarked on an extended stay in pink that would last 11 days. Only Gino Bartali (13 days in pink) and Beppe Saronni (12 days) have achieved more before their 22nd birthdays.
Del Toro survived the time trial in Pisa (won by Daan Hoole), the attacks of Richard Carapaz to Castelnovo ne' Monti (a stage 11 victory for the Ecuadorian rider), and breakaway victories for Carlos Verona in Asiago (stage 15) and Christian Scaroni in San Valentino (stage 16). Del Toro even raised his hands in victory in Bormio (stage 17) and was still in a good position when Nicolas Prodhomme won in Champoluc (stage 19).
One mighty challenge remained: the Colle delle Finestre, en route to Sestrières. Chris Harper secured victory on the stage from the breakaway, while behind him, Yates delivered perhaps his best-ever climbing performance, dancing on the pedals on the same slopes that had crushed him seven years earlier. Carapaz and Del Toro slackened their pace, looked at each other and ultimately failed to cooperate to counter Yates. The Giro was finally his.
“I think you guys already know what happened to me in the Giro in 2018,” said Simon Yates. “I've had my ups and downs here in Italy, but it's a race that kept calling my name and I've finally managed to win it. During the Giro, victory seemed to get further from reach, but the guys encouraged me to keep trying. I believed in myself, and I succeeded on a crazy day.”