1st overall winner Roglic
For a long time Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) was defensive at the 2023 Giro d'Italia, even letting his rivals Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) and Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers). In the individual time trial of the 20th stage, however, he ignited the turbo once again with the last chance to win the pink jersey and was able to take decisive seconds off his rivals. It almost looked as if his chance of victory had slipped away - the 33-year-old's chain came off during the time trial, meaning he had to dismount and fix the mishap before he could continue. In the end, he still took 40 seconds off Geraint Thomas, who had previously been in first place, and overtook the Welshman at the last second.
2 Thomas shows greatness
Geraint Thomas showed himself to be a fair sportsman and tipped his hat to the overall winner: "You deserve it! If you had offered me this a few months ago when things weren't going the way I wanted, I would have taken it," explained the 37-year-old. The Ineos Grenadiers captain also made a special moment possible for an old friend from another team: he acted as a rider for star sprinter Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan Team), helping him to victory in Rome. This triumph was particularly special for Cavendish because he announced during the Giro d'Italia that he would be retiring at the end of 2023 and is now on his farewell tour.
3. the successes of the Germans at the Giro d'Italia 2023
There were also some highlights from a German perspective at the Tour of Italy: Alongside Remco Evenepoel (Soudal - Quick Step) was Nico Denz (Bora-Hansgrohe) was the only rider to win two stages - his victory on stage 14, in which he inimitably pulled away in the final sprint to win the race, made the headlines. Sprinter Pascal Ackermann (UAE Team Emirates) also managed a stage win in a bunch sprint. In the overall classification, Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe) also fulfilled his target and finished in the top 10. Towards the end of the tour, the North German ran out of steam a little, ultimately finishing in ninth place.
4. numerous cancellations at the Giro d'Italia 2023
Kämna's team-mate Aleksandr Vlasov, on the other hand, was denied a place in the top places - he had to end the tour prematurely during stage 10 due to symptoms of illness. However, the Bora-Hansgrohe captain was not the only top rider who had to leave the Giro earlier than expected: Tao Geoghegan Hart (Ineos Grenadiers) and Remco Evenepoel were also among the favourites for overall victory before the start of the Giro, but then had to abandon in the course of the race. After the first two weeks, more than a quarter of all starters were missing. There were two main reasons for this.
Firstly, the coronavirus was rampant among the riders, which is why many had to abandon the race due to illness. This was also the case for time trial specialist Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) and GC top favourite Evenepoel, who narrowly won the time trial on stage 9, but it was already apparent there that he was in poor health. A few hours after his victory and reclaiming the maglia rosa as overall leader, he tested positive for Covid and was forced to abandon the stage race. The second reason for the thinned-out field of riders becomes clear with Vlasov: persistent heavy rain, especially in the north of Italy, caused serious difficulties during the tour. The bad weather not only caused some riders to fall ill, it also led to numerous crashes, race starts were postponed, relocated and the route shortened. For example, the highest point of the Giro d'Italia, the Great Saint Bernard, was removed from the programme on day 13 of what was supposed to be a landmark mountain stage, and later the stage was shortened from 199 to less than 75 kilometres.
The unusual weather also made itself felt during the race. There were crashes such as Mark Cavendish's on the finishing straight of stage 5, but the big bang came on a descent of stage 11: GC co-favourite Tao Geoghegan Hart (Ineos Grenadiers) was eliminated after a mass crash - he broke his hip in the process. A little later, Oscar Rodriguez (Movistar) lost control of his racing bike, crashed into a house wall and also had to end the tour.
5th Giro d'Italia 2023: Opportunity for new stars
The many cancellations were annoying and bitter for riders and teams, but they also created opportunities for new stars at the Giro d'Italia: Youngster Jonathan Milan (Bahrain-Victorious) won the points classification and proved that he is already one of the best sprinters at a young age. In the overall classification, the Norwegian Andreas Leknessund (Team DSM) finished in eighth place and even rode in pink for long stretches of the first week of the race. Among the breakaway riders there were also some lesser-known riders: the aforementioned German Nico Denz and Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech), the "eternal runner-up" of the tour. He crossed the finish line in second place four times and impressed with his active riding style. It will be interesting to see where the journey of these riders will take them. They all celebrated their first major successes at the Giro and could become new rising stars.
