Tim Merlier of Soudal Quick Step prevailed in a chaotic final sprint in Rome to win the 21st stage of the Giro d’Italia ahead of favorite Jonathan Milan of Lidl-Trek. Tadej Pogačar of Team UAE Emirates cruised home safely in the shadow of the Colosseum to take his first overall Giro win.
Milan was the overnight points competition leader and winner of three earlier stages, but a mechanical problem inside the final 10km left him by the side of the road waiting for a bike change. Milan then had to wend his way through all the team cars before he could rejoin the race, and it was remarkable that he was in the final sprint at all. But he did not have the legs to catch Merlier, who launched his sprint on the left side passing through a slight bend on cobblestones, a home away from home for the Belgian, who flew off the front and made it just a bit too far for Milan to challenge. Merlier ends up with three stage wins of his own and third place in the points comp.
Photo by LUCA BETTINI/AFP via Getty Images
Results:
- MERLIER Tim, Soudal Quick-Step, 2:51:50
- MILAN Jonathan, Lidl – Trek
- GROVES Kaden, Alpecin – Deceuninck
- GAVIRIA Fernando, Movistar Team
- VAN DIJKE Tim, Team Visma | Lease a Bike
GC
- POGAČAR Tadej, UAE Team Emirates, 79:14:03
- MARTÍNEZ Daniel Felipe, BORA – hansgrohe, at 9:56
- THOMAS Geraint, INEOS Grenadiers, at 10:2444
- O’CONNOR Ben, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team, at 12:07
- TIBERI Antonio, Bahrain – Victorious, at 12:49
- ARENSMAN Thymen, INEOS Grenadiers, at 14:31
- RUBIO Einer, Movistar Team, at 15:52
- HIRT Jan, Soudal Quick-Step, at 18:05
- BARDET Romain, Team dsm-firmenich PostNL, at 20:32
- STORER Michael, Tudor Pro Cycling Team, at 21:11
Roma – Roma 125 km
Short and sweet and with one final sprint is how we say arrivederci to Italy for this year.
Estimated finish time: 18:30-18:55 CEST
Romanista of the Day: Milan (Jonatan)
Milan winning in Rome, it’s the dream of every editor on this site.
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