The Colombian has done it
Egan Bernal rode around the Milan time-trial course and confirmed his maglia rosa yesterday, winning a second Grand Tour of his career. The 24-year-old won by 1:29 ahead of Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Victorious). Simon Yates from BikeExchange completed the podium. The Brit finished 4:15 behind Bernal. The final stage was won by Ineos Grenadiers’ Filippo Ganna. The Italian won the time trial despite having to switch bikes during the stage.
“After the 2019 Tour de France I had a very difficult period,” Bernal admitted in his winner’s press conference. “I think that period afterwards was more difficult than winning the Tour itself. Winning the Giro is an explosion of many emotions. At the same time, I see many strong riders, Roglič and Pogačar, around me so now I’m back in the game. They give me motivation.”
The question of whether Bernal will go on to the Tour and try to reclaim the throne has naturally arisen.
“It’s hard to do the Giro and the Tour in the same year,” said Bernal. “Look at me now, I’m really empty. I don’t think I’ll be able to do the Tour.”
However, he didn’t say no and nor did his team principal Sir David Brailsford. Will it be Geraint Thomas or Egan Bernal to lead the Ineos Grenadiers? We shall see.
Giro d’Italia 2021 Final General Classification
- Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) – 86:17:28
- Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) + 1:29
- Simon Yates (Team BikeExchange) + 4:15
- Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana-Premier Tech) + 6:40
- Daniel Martínez (Ineos Grenadiers) + 7:24
- João Almeida (Deceuninck – Quick-Step)
- Romain Bardet (Team DSM) + 8:05
- Hugh Carthy (EF Education-Nippo) + 8:56
- Tobias Foss (Team Jumbo-Visma) + 11:44
- Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation) + 18:35
