Tadej Pogacar completed his remarkable domination of the Giro d’Italia with his sixth stage victory of this year’s race at Bassano del Grappa, extending his overall lead to almost ten minutes with only the flat final stage to Rome remaining.
The 25-year-old Slovenian rode away easily from his nearest rivals in the general classification on the second ascent of Monte Grappa, with 36km remaining, and quickly reeled in Giulio Pellizzari, of Bardiani–CSF. He stretched his lead to more than two minutes and had time to wave to the crowd on his ride into the finish.
Geraint Thomas, on his 38th birthday, extended his own record as the oldest podium finisher at the Giro by wrapping up third place.
“I’ve had better [birthdays],” he said. “No, it was OK. To be honest, I felt pretty average all day, especially before the climb. I was like, ‘Oh, this could be a terrible birthday,’ but I managed to regroup.”
Daniel Martínez, of Bora-Hansgrohe, secured second overall, 9min 56sec behind Pogacar. Barring disaster, the final stage to Rome will not affect the general classification.
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Pogacar will turn next to the Tour de France, which begins on June 29, where he is aiming to be the first rider since Marco Pantani in 1998 to complete a Tour-Giro double.
Thomas was generous in his praise for Pogacar. “He’s the best I’ve raced with, and I’ve raced with a lot of good guys,” he said. “He’s just so versatile and aggressive, and all year round as well. It’s insane how talented he is.
“I’ll put a lot of money that he won’t be racing when he’s 38, so at least I’ve got that on him. But each to their own. The only thing is he makes us look pretty slow, but that’s the whole peloton, that’s not just me.
“Everyone’s gone on about my age for a while now and I’ve never really seen the fuss. But now 38 is pretty old for a professional cyclist.