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Three riders, three days, 29 seconds. After two and a half weeks that saw altogether more attrition than action, the Giro d’Italia is down to the last men standing. The race may have been low on excitement before Monte Bondone, but there is no shortage of suspense as it enters its final phase with Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers), João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) and Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) all firmly in the hunt for overall victory.
There are compelling arguments why each man might lift the Trofeo Senza Fine on Sunday evening as the sun sets behind the Capitoline Hill in Rome, and each rider has reason to believe the road ahead suits him every bit as well as his rivals.
First up is the 161km run to the two-part climb to Val di Zoldo on stage 18, where the penultimate ascent of Coi, with its 19% slopes, might force some separation among the top three. On Friday, the Giro takes on the Dolomite tappone to Tre Cime di Lavaredo, a second successive day with more than 5,000m of climbing. And on Saturday, of course, there is the daunting Monte Lussari time trial, subject to so much discussion even before this Giro began.
There has been little to separate Thomas, Almeida and Roglič to this point on the road, and even less to separate them on paper in the days to come. All three are robust climbers and time triallists, and they are backed by the three strongest teams in the race. Ultimately, the decisive factor will likely prove to be endurance. The rider who outlasts his rivals in this final slog will carry pink to Rome. It’s as simple and brutally complicated as that.
“Ultimately, you’re all getting more and more tired at the end of a race like this,” Jumbo-Visma directeur sportif Marc Reef told Cyclingnews. “So if you are less tired relative to the others, then you have a good chance.”
Geraint Thomas
Thomas carries the maglia rosa into this troika of stages with a lead of 18 seconds over Almeida and 29 seconds over Roglic. The Welshman has scarcely put a pedal stroke askew thus far, with his only off-key showing coming in the opening time trial to Ortona. Since then, he has been present and correct at every critical juncture, tracking Roglič’s attack on I Cappuccini on stage 8 and bridging up to Almeida on Monte Bondone on stage 16.
Before this Giro, much was made of Thomas’ unfortunate record at this race, the crashes that forced him out of…
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