The Slovenian Primoz Roglic (Jumbo Visma) entered Rome as the final emperor of the 106th edition of the Giro d'Italia after completing the twenty-first and last stage, starting and finishing in the Italian capital, 126 km long, in which British Mark Cavendish (Astana) won.
Cavendish (Douglas, 38 years old) joined Roglic's party as the protagonist of the last partial victory of the edition, winning the sprint in the Italian capital in his last season as a professional with a time of 2h.48.26, at an average of 44,600 km/hour, ahead of the Luxembourger Alex Kirsch (Trek Segafredo) and the Italian Filippo Fiorelli (Bardiani).
It was victory number 162 for the 'Express of Man', who had the work of pitcher by Geraint Thomas himself, the leader of Ineos and second overall. The Briton, with 16 stages in the Giro and 34 in the Tour, took with him a monumental memory of Rome.
The pink jersey was in the possession of Roglic (Trbovlje, 33 years old), who adds his fourth great one, since three Tours of Spain appear in his record. He is accompanied on the podium by the British Geraint Thomas (Ineos) and the Portuguese Joao Almeida (UAE Emirates).
A victory for Roglic that further enriches his record, which includes other titles such as the Olympic time trial medal in Tokyo 2020, a Liège Bastogne Liège, two Itzulias, two Tirreno Adriatico, two Tours of Romandie, the Dauphiné and the Volta a Catalonia, to add a total of 73 wins.
The Tour de France is missing from his service sheet, a thorn in the soul of this former ski jumper who came late to cycling, but in which he climbed to the highest levels based on effort and constant challenges.
That time trial at La Planche des Belles Filles denied Roglic the Tour in favor of his compatriot Tadej Pogacar, but the time trial on Monte Lussari in this Giro made up for that immense pain.
However, Roglic does not give up on the Tour and will try again, just as he did not give up in this Giro that has just signed up. Neither the falls nor the cold nor the threat of the covid have been able to bring down the Slovenian. Since Evenepoel's withdrawal due to the virus, he has remained a shadow favorite.
Thomas, another illustrious veteran who enjoyed the pink jersey, took center stage, but Roglic crouched down, went unnoticed and appeared on D-Day at H hour: the time trial of Monte Lussari, where surrounded by Slovenian flags he donned the tunic of Emperor of the Turn.
A Giro marked by bad weather, crashes, controversial cuts, bland stages without combativeness among the men in the general classification, without much of a pulse to get the fans out of their seats, but well managed by Roglic, who knew how to manage his forces for the key moment. He knew better than anyone that the Giro was on the terrible slopes of Monte Lussari. And there it went down in history.
The Giro had more secondary protagonists who got on the podium for various reasons. The French veteran Thibaut Pinot (Groupama), in his last active season, materialized his famous gestures on the bike with the title of best climber. A combative runner, without a doubt, one of those who put on a show in the ports.
The purple cycling jersey, to the most regular, was awarded to the 22-year-old Italian Jonathan Milan (Bahrain Victorious), who also took a stage victory in the sprint. The white jersey for the best young man went to the Portuguese Joao Almeida, with another partial victory in Monte Bordone and third place overall.
By teams, Bahrain Victorious stood out, with two stage wins in their scoreboard, achieved by Milan in San Salvo and the Colombian Santiago Buitrago in the queen day of Las Tres Cimas de Lavaredo.
The Giro has not left a good memory for Spanish cycling, which attended the event without its main current values. Movistar saved his participation with a stage win by Colombian Einer Rubio in the Crans Montana mountain day, where he demonstrated his qualities as a climber and his future potential.
With this exception, the overall ranking in his cotton test doesn't lie. The first registered Spaniard is the veteran Luis León Sánchez (Astana), 39, in 24th place. The next is Jonathan Lastra (Cofidis), in 35, and then Carlos Verona (Movistar) in 47.
Waiting for the Spanish jewels Juan Ayuso and Carlos Rodríguez to confirm themselves in the big events, and for Enric Mas to continue aspiring to the best podiums, the Tour and the Vuelta will be important tests to show that the level of Spanish cycling is not exactly the one of the turn
