2018 Giro d'Italia Stage 21 Results & Recap
Stage 21 of the 2018 Giro d'Italia is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
Chris Froome wins maglia rosa
Bennett claims final stage in Rome\nBy Clara Beard
It was a magical three weeks in Italy and the final stage in Rome was just icing on the Giro torta. A 115 kilometre circuit race through the streets of the Eternal City was topped off with Irishman Sam Bennett (BORA-Hansgrohe) claiming his third win at this Giro d’Italia ahead of ciclamino jersey winner Elia Viviani (Quick-Step Floors) in spectacular fashion, while BMC’s Jempy Drucker rounded out the last stage podium of the race.
Surrounded by his ever-watchful Sky teammates, Chris Froome crossed the line 10 minutes behind the first rush to the line, in no danger of losing his position after the officials, concerned about course safety, decided to neutralize the GC times. The maglia rosa was joined by the final overall podium: Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) and Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana), who also won the best young rider competition.
“It’s great to soak up the atmosphere here in Rome,” said Froome, the first Briton ever to win the maglia rosa. “I was surely not disappointed by the crowd and the monuments. I need a bit of time to reflect, but this race has been incredible. For any cyclist, it’s a dream to have all three grand tour leader’s jerseys. I’m still pinching myself. I can’t believe I’m here in the maglia rosa.”
Froome’s domination of the maglia rosa puts him in a select class of riders ever to win each grand tour. He also claimed the mountains classification jersey, the maglia azzurra by 17 points ahead of Giulio Ciccone (CSF Bardinai).
The final stage of the Giro d’Italia wasn’t without some controversy. After a short celebration complete with the traditional toast to a job well done, there was chatter amongst the peloton and UCI officials apparently concerned about the safety of the 11-kilometer twisty circuit around Rome. Viviani, Froome and Dumoulin, worried about their GC positions convinced the judges to neutralize their GC times with three laps, allowing them to ride “piano” while those who wished to vie for a stage win go on ahead.
Several attacks did fly off the front in the latter part of the stage, but Quick-Step Floors looked comfortably in control of the situation, bringing it back together with about 10 kilometers to go. From there Bora-Hansgrohe took over the job for Bennett who had glued himself to the back of Viviani’s wheel.
“I don’t know how I managed to beat Elia Viviani,” Bennett said. “I suffered so much over the past few days in the mountains. But my team did a fantastic job to bring the last breakaway back today. It’s fantastic to have won three stages in the Giro but I’ll have to get up tomorrow and focus on further goals, possibly the Irish championship as I’d love to show the national colors on the world stage.”
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