Froome seals his amazing win
A ride that will go down in the history books. That’s the only way to describe the amazing performance put out by Chris Froome on his way to Jafferau. The 80km solo ride during stage 19 changed the whole 2018 Giro. The Brit went from fourth place to first, leaving Tom Dumoulin with a 40s deficit and Simon Yates out of the GC contention with a loss of over 40 minutes.
“I think that was one of the most amazing things I’ve done on the bike,” Froome said after the stage, and there’s no doubt about it.
All that was left to do was not let anyone get away in stage 20, and Froome has plenty of experience in that field.
“There’s nothing you can do about Froome,” Dumoulin admitted afterwards. “I didn’t have the legs. I thought I rode well, but he rode super well.”
The GC was neutralised for safety reasons on the final stage in Rome after just three of the ten laps, so Froome confirmed his victory fairly early. Thus he became the third rider, after Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault, to hold all three Grand Tour titles at the same time. He is also one of two active riders who have won all three Grand Tours.
Giro d’Italia 2018, stage 21: Rome to Rome, 115km
1. Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe, in 2-50-49
2 Elia Viviani (Ita) Quick-Step Floors
3 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing
4 Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
5 Manuel Belletti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
6 Sacha Modolo (Ita) EF Education First-Drapac
7 Niccolo Bonifazio (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
8 Clement Venturini (Fra) Ag2r La Mondiale
9 Paolo Simion (Ita) Bardiani CSF
10 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Quick-Step Floors, all at same time
Final general classification
1. Chris Froome (GBr) Team Sky
2. Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb, at 46s
3. Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana, at 4-57
4. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Movistar, at 5-44
5. Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Bahrain-Merida, at 8-03
6. Pello Bilboa (Esp) Astana, at 11-50
7. Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 13-01
8. George Bennett (NZl) LottoNL-Jumbo, at 13-17
9. Sam Oomen (Ned) Team Sunweb, at 14-18
10. Davide Formolo (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 15-16
