As it happened: Tadej Pogačar wins Giro d’Italia as Tim Merlier wins Rome sprint

A perfect setting for a wonderful final podium for the top three in the general classification with Tadej Pogačar (UAD) flanked by Dani Martínez (BOH) and Geraint Thomas (IGD). 

Final jerseys:

Pink: Tadej Pogačar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates
Purple: Jonathan Milan (ITA) Lidl-Trek
Blue Tadej Pogačar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates
White: Antonio Tiberi (ITA) Bahrain Victorious

Tim Merlier (SOQ) after his superb third win at this race:

“I have to say sorry to the guys because I couldn’t follow today. So we played a bit of catch up in the end. If I can take the cobbles positioned five or six, I can go from far on the cobbles. 

“I go with my speed. It works. I take the win for the team. For the people it’s a really big win. But for myself, it feels a bit strange because everybody was already on the plane yesterday, drinking beer and everything. Today we need to race. The first part easy, then it was full gas. For me this kind of race is a bit special, for sprinters a really nice victory.”

Get the immediate reaction with our post race report by clicking the link below and keep an eye on our website for all the quotes and reactions as they come in as well as all the results from the others races this week.

>>> Giro d’Italia: Tim Merlier conquers sprint in Rome as Tadej Pogačar glides to overall glory 

Tim Merlier (SOQ) likening his sprint style at Nokere Koerse on the Nokereberg cobbled climb to what he did today and it did work perfectly for him. He is so good at sprinting on cobbles. 

Final GC

1. Tadej Pogačar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates 79:14’03”
2. Dani Martínez (COL) Bora-Hansgrohe +9’56”
3. Geraint Thomas (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers +10’24”
4. Ben O’Connor (AUS) Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale +12’07”
5. Antonio Tiberi (ITA) Bahrain Victorious +12’49”
6. Thymen Arensman (NED) +14’31”
7. Einer Rubio (COL) Movistar +15’52”
8. Jan Hirt (CZE) Soudal-QuickStep +18’05”
9. Romain Bardet (FRA) DSM-Firmenich-PostNL +20’32”
10. Michael Storer (AUS) Tudor +21’11”

S21 top 10

1. Tim Merlier (BEL) Soudal-QuickStep 2:51’50”
2. Jonathan Milan (ITA) Lidl-Trek
3. Kaden Groves (AUS) Alpecin-Deceuninck
4. Fernando Gaviria (COL) Movistar
5. Tim van Dijke (NED) Visma-Lease a Bike
6. Stanislaw Aniolkowski (POL) Cofidis
7. Alberto…