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Jonas Vingegaard sealed overall victory at the Giro d’Italia on Sunday, becoming the eighth male cyclist to win all three of road cycling’s Grand Tours after safely completing the final stage in Rome.
The Danish rider, racing for Visma-Lease a Bike, entered the flat closing stage with overall victory already firmly in hand. With the decisive mountain work done a day earlier, he only needed to make it through the procession-style finale in the Italian capital to secure the title.
Vingegaard’s Giro triumph means he has now won the Giro d’Italia, the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España, the three major three-week races that make up cycling’s Grand Tour calendar.
The 29-year-old joins a select group that includes Bernard Hinault, Eddy Merckx and Vincenzo Nibali, underlining the scale of a feat regarded as one of the hardest in road cycling.
He finished the race with five stage wins and an overall lead of 5 minutes and 22 seconds over Felix Gall, who achieved his best result in a Grand Tour.
“Winning all three is very special for me, it’s difficult to find the words to describe it,” Vingegaard told Italian broadcaster RAI.
Vingegaard’s attention will now turn to the Tour de France in July, where he is expected to line up against Tadej Pogacar, his main rival for the sport’s biggest race.
Although he did not face Pogacar at the Giro, Vingegaard controlled the Italian race without appearing seriously threatened. He said he would stay in Rome for a few days with his family before heading back to Denmark to begin his Tour preparations.
He said the next step would depend on how he recovered from the Giro, adding that he was not completely exhausted.
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While Vingegaard wrapped up the overall title, Jonathan Milan gave home fans a stage victory in Rome with a powerful late burst. It was the Italian sprinter’s first stage win of this year’s Giro, although he could not prevent Paul Magnier from taking the points jersey, the competition generally aimed at the race’s leading sprinters.
In the women’s Giro, Elisa Balsamo won stage two and extended her overall lead after Lorena Wiebes was removed from the race because her bike did not meet the required weight rules.
Balsamo had inherited the pink jersey following Wiebes’ expulsion late Saturday and then strengthened her position by edging Irish sprinter Lara Gillespie and fellow Italian Chiara Consonni on Sunday.
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