The Brit crossed the finish line with a good four metre lead over Alex Kirsch (Trek-Segafredo) and Filippo Fiorelli (Green Project - Bardiani CSF - Faizane) and was jubilant. At 38 years and seven days, he replaced Paolo Tiralongo, who became the oldest stage winner in 2015 (37 years and 313 days). It was his last appearance at the Giro - on the second rest day he had announced the end of his career after this season.
Thomas helps Cavendish in the sprint
"Winning in Rome in front of the Colosseum was on my bucket list," said a satisfied Cavendish after his success. "My first Grand Tour stage win was 15 years ago at the Giro in Reggio Calabria." It had been a long road to even reach the end of the Giro. His team gave him a lot of support. "And my friends were great too," said Cavendish.
He was referring to the overall runner-up Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers), who personally led the field onto the home straight under the Flamme Rouge. "I had predicted his victory, so I had to help a little. I was there and saw that only Luis Leon Sanchez was with him. I just helped an old friend," said Thomas, who, like Cavendish, was one of the ten oldest starters at the Giro.
Alexander Krieger (Alpecin-Deceuninck) sprinted to 5th place as the best German. In the absence of his captain Kaden Groves, who had to abandon the Giro beforehand, the starter was allowed to prove himself and delivered.
Kämna finishes Giro in 9th place
Apart from Roglic, the other jersey wearers also defended their leads in the special classifications. Jonathan Milan (Bahrain-Victorious) defended the maglia ciclamino of the best points scorer, Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) celebrated the blue jersey of the best climber. The best young pro is Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates). Bahrain-Victorious secured the team classification. With 650 kilometres on the run, Thomas Champion (Cofidis) collected the most kilometres as a runner.
The top 10 in the overall standings remained unchanged. Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe) finished the Giro in ninth place.
The top 10 of the 21st stage
- Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazqastan Team) 2:48:26
- Alex Kirsch (Trek-Sgefaredo) +0:00
- Filippo Fiorelli (Green Project - Bardiani CSF - Faizane) + 0:00
- Alberto Dainese (Team DSM) +0:00
- Alexander Krieger (Alpecin-Deceuninck) +0:00
- Jake Stewart (Groupama-FDJ) +0:00
- Fernando Gaviria (Movistar) +0:00
- Michael Matthews (Jayco-AlUla) +0:00
- Arne Marit (Intermarche-Circus-Wanty) +0:00
- Campbell Stewart (Jayco-AlUla) +0:00
"I haven't really realised what it means to have won the Giro," said Roglic on the podium. "But I'm savouring every moment, the emotions and everything that happened yesterday, that I beat these big names. The victory will stay in my memory for the rest of my life."
The overall standings after the 21st stage
- Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) 85:29:02
- Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) +0:14
- Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) +1:15
- Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Victorious) +4:40
- Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) +5:43
- Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers) +6:05
- Eddie Dunbar (Jayco-AlUla) +7:30
- Andreas Leknessund (Team DSM) +7:31
- Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe) +7:46
- Laurens De Plus (Ineos Grenadiers) +9:08
This is how the 21st stage of the 2023 Giro d'Italia went
In glorious weather, which the Giro had seen far too rarely this year after a completely rainy start, the 125 riders remaining in the race made their way from the Roman district of EUR (Esposizione Universale di Roma) to the coast and then back to the centre of the Italian metropolis.
Something only happened 68 kilometres before the finish. Maxime Bouet (Arkea-Samsic), Cesare Benedetti (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Toms Skujins (Trek-Segafredo) opened the round of attacks.
The trio made it to 13 kilometres before the finish. There were no further attacks - only Derek Gee (Israel-PremierTech) tried again four kilometres before the finish. But that was more for show.
Ackermann crashes on the last few metres
And so it was Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers), who led the field into the final kilometre - for compatriot Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan Team). Then Movistar took over, but they brought Fernando Gaviria into the wind too early. Jonathan Milan (Bahrain-Victorious) broke off his sprint prematurely. Shortly behind him, there was another crash in the last 100 metres, the main victim of which was Pascal Ackermann (UAE Team Emirates) was. But Nico Denz (Bora-Hansgrohe) also crashed.
Nevertheless, Cavendish pulled off his sprint, came from behind Gaviria and won by four metres ahead of Alex Kirsch (Trek-Segafredo).
