2021 Giro d'Italia

The 2021 Giro d'Italia was the 104th edition of the Giro d'Italia, a three-week Grand Tour cycling stage race. The race started on 8 May and finished on 30 May. On 26 May 2019, the race organisers RCS Sport originally announced that the start of the 2021 Giro (known as the Grande Partenza) would be in Sicily, Italy.[1][2][3] However, on 4 February 2021, RCS Sport announced that the race would instead start in Turin, with the rest of the race route being announced on 24 February 2021.[4][5]

2021 Giro d'Italia
2021 UCI World Tour, race 18 of 29
Peloton on Stage 15
Race details
Dates8–30 May 2021
Stages21
Distance3,410.9[N 1] km (2,119 mi)
Winning time86h 17' 28"
Results
Winner  Egan Bernal (COL) (Ineos Grenadiers)
  Second  Damiano Caruso (ITA) (Team Bahrain Victorious)
  Third  Simon Yates (GBR) (Team BikeExchange)
Points  Peter Sagan (SVK) (Bora–Hansgrohe)
Mountains  Geoffrey Bouchard (FRA) (AG2R Citroën Team)
Youth  Egan Bernal (COL) (Ineos Grenadiers)
  Sprints  Dries De Bondt (BEL) (Alpecin–Fenix)
  Combativity  Dries De Bondt (BEL) (Alpecin–Fenix)
  Team Ineos Grenadiers

The race was won by Egan Bernal of Ineos Grenadiers, winning his first Giro title and his second Grand Tour victory overall. He became the second Colombian to win the Giro after Nairo Quintana did so in 2014. He first took the maglia rosa when he won atop the gravel finish at Campo Felice on stage 9. He proceeded to extend his lead in the second week, culminating in his victory on the shortened queen stage to Cortina d'Ampezzo. Despite his difficulties in the final week, he still had enough advantage to confirm his victory in Milan. He won by 1' 29" ahead of Damiano Caruso of Team Bahrain Victorious. Going into the race, Caruso was initially supposed to be a domestique for his team's original leader, Mikel Landa. After Landa crashed out on stage 5, Caruso took up the mantle as the team's leader. Caruso proceeded to consistently get high placings on the mountain stages before taking a stage victory on the last mountain stage to Alpe Motta. The last place on the podium was occupied by Simon Yates of Team BikeExchange, 4' 15" behind Bernal. After constantly losing time in the first two weeks, Yates peaked in the third week, leading to him taking a stage victory on the summit finish to Alpe di Mera.

In the race's other classifications, Peter Sagan of Bora–Hansgrohe took the points classification title. He first took the maglia ciclamino after winning the sprint on stage 10. Geoffrey Bouchard of AG2R Citroën Team took the mountains classification title after consistently taking maximum points on the stages' early climbs. As a result of him winning the maglia rosa, Bernal also took home the young riders classification as the best-placed rider under the age of 25. Dries De Bondt of Alpecin–Fenix took home the titles in the intermediate sprint classification and the combativity classification while Simon Pellaud of Androni Giocattoli–Sidermec won the breakaway classification as the rider who had the highest number of kilometres on the breakaway. In the team classifications, Ineos Grenadiers took home the Trofeo Fast Team as the team whose top three riders had the lowest aggregate time while Team Bahrain Victorious took home the fair play classification as one of the three teams who did not get any sanction in the whole race. They won the tiebreaker as a result of Caruso taking the second place in the GC.

Teams
Main article: List of teams and cyclists in the 2021 Giro d'Italia

Twenty-three teams received invitations to participate in the 2021 Giro d'Italia. All nineteen UCI WorldTeams were entitled and obliged to enter the race, and they were joined by four second-tier UCI ProTeams. Alpecin–Fenix, the best-performing UCI ProTeam in 2020, received an automatic invitation, while the other three teams were selected by RCS Sport, the organisers of the Giro. Bardiani–CSF–Faizanè and Vini Zabù continued their streak of wild card invitations to the race, while Eolo–Kometa made its Grand Tour debut.[6] The teams were announced on 10 February 2021.[7][8]

On 15 April 2021, after positive doping tests for Matteo Spreafico and Matteo De Bonis left them facing a potential suspension, Vini Zabù withdrew their participation from the race.[9] As a result, regular invitee Androni Giocattoli–Sidermec, which had participated in the last three Giros but had initially missed out on an invitation, were awarded the last wildcard invitation.[6][10]

The teams participating in the race are:

UCI WorldTeams

UCI ProTeams

Pre-race favourites

The pre-race favourites were the 2019 Tour de France champion Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) and Simon Yates (Team BikeExchange), who won the lead-up race, Tour of the Alps. Their main challenger was considered to be Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck–Quick-Step), despite not having raced since a crash in the 2020 Il Lombardia. Other top contenders were Hugh Carthy (EF Education–Nippo), after his third place in the 2020 Vuelta a España, former podium finisher Mikel Landa (Team Bahrain Victorious), Emanuel Buchmann (Bora–Hansgrohe), Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana–Premier Tech), Pavel Sivakov (Ineos Grenadiers), and two Maglia Rosa wearers from the 2020 edition - João Almeida (Deceuninck–Quick-Step) and Jai Hindley (Team DSM), the eventual 2020 runner-up. Multiple Grand Tour winner Vincenzo Nibali also started the race, but due to only recently having recovered from injury, was not mentioned among the favourites.[11]

Riders believed to be the main contenders for victories on the sprint stages were Caleb Ewan (Lotto–Soudal), Peter Sagan (Bora–Hansgrohe), Dylan Groenewegen (Team Jumbo–Visma), Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates), Elia Viviani (Cofidis), Giacomo Nizzolo (Team Qhubeka Assos) and Tim Merlier (Alpecin–Fenix).[12]

Route and stages
Leading group (stage 15)
Egan Bernal (far right) in pink helmet (stage 15)
Main articles: 2021 Giro d'Italia, Stage 1 to Stage 11 and 2021 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21

The full route, consisting of 21 stages covering a distance of 3,479.9 kilometres (2,162.3 mi) and an elevation gain of over 47,000 metres (154,000 ft), was announced by RCS Sport on 24 February 2021. The race was bookended by two individual time trials in Turin and Milan, respectively. There were six summit finishes, the first of which is on stage 6 to Ascoli Piceno. The summit finishes also included the infamous Monte Zoncolan on stage 14 and three of the last five stages. There were also six stages designed for the sprinters to contest and two rest days, after the tenth and sixteenth stages.[5][13]

Though stage 16 to Cortina d'Ampezzo did not feature a summit finish, it was initially earmarked as the queen stage by race organisers, as riders were due to cover over 5,700 metres (18,700 ft) of elevation gain, and the Passo Pordoi was due to award the Cima Coppi award to the first rider to cross it as the highest climb of the race.[13] However, due to poor weather, the stage was rerouted to remove the Pordoi and Fedaia, significantly shortening it and leaving the Passo Giau as the only climb in the Dolomites.[14] With the removal of the Passo Pordoi, the Passo Giau also became the Cima Coppi of the race.[14]

The nineteenth stage was also changed three days before it was run. The original route had the riders climb the Mottarone climb and then descend into Gignese, however, following the Stresa–Mottarone cable car crash, the route was changed out of respect to those affected to remove the climb, leading the riders straight to Gignese.[15] The stage was shortened by 10 kilometres (6.2 mi).[15]

Stage characteristics and winners[5][13]
Stage Date Course Distance Type Winner
1 8 May Torino to Torino 8.6 km (5.3 mi) Individual time trial  Filippo Ganna (ITA)
2 9 May Stupinigi (Nichelino) to Novara 179 km (111 mi) Flat stage  Tim Merlier (BEL)
3 10 May Biella to Canale 190 km (120 mi) Hilly stage  Taco van der Hoorn (NED)
4 11 May Piacenza to Sestola 187 km (116 mi) Intermediate stage  Joe Dombrowski (USA)
5 12 May Modena to Cattolica 177 km (110 mi) Flat stage  Caleb Ewan (AUS)
6 13 May Grotte di Frasassi to Ascoli Piceno (San Giacomo) 160 km (99 mi) Intermediate stage  Gino Mäder (SUI)
7 14 May Notaresco to Termoli 181 km (112 mi) Flat stage  Caleb Ewan (AUS)
8 15 May Foggia to Guardia Sanframondi 170 km (110 mi) Intermediate stage  Victor Lafay (FRA)
9 16 May Castel di Sangro to Campo Felice (Rocca di Cambio) 158 km (98 mi) Mountain stage  Egan Bernal (COL)
10 17 May L'Aquila to Foligno 139 km (86 mi) Flat stage  Peter Sagan (SVK)
18 May Foligno Rest day
11 19 May Perugia to Montalcino 162 km (101 mi) Hilly stage  Mauro Schmid (SUI)
12 20 May Siena to Bagno di Romagna 212 km (132 mi) Intermediate stage  Andrea Vendrame (ITA)
13 21 May Ravenna to Verona 198 km (123 mi) Flat stage  Giacomo Nizzolo (ITA)
14 22 May Cittadella to Monte Zoncolan 205 km (127 mi) Mountain stage  Lorenzo Fortunato (ITA)
15 23 May Grado to Gorizia 147 km (91 mi) Hilly stage  Victor Campenaerts (BEL)
16 24 May Sacile to Cortina d'Ampezzo 153 km (95 mi)[N 2] Mountain stage  Egan Bernal (COL)
25 May Canazei Rest day
17 26 May Canazei to Sega di Ala 193 km (120 mi) Mountain stage  Dan Martin (IRL)
18 27 May Rovereto to Stradella 231 km (144 mi) Flat stage  Alberto Bettiol (ITA)
19 28 May Abbiategrasso to Alpe di Mera (Valsesia) 166 km (103 mi)[N 3] Mountain stage  Simon Yates (GBR)
20 29 May Verbania to Valle Spluga (Alpe Motta) 164 km (102 mi) Mountain stage  Damiano Caruso (ITA)
21 30 May Senago to Milan 30.3 km (18.8 mi) Individual time trial  Filippo Ganna (ITA)
Total 3,410.9 km (2,119.4 mi)[N 1]

Classification leadership
Classification leadership by stage
Stage Winner General classification
 Points classification
 Mountains classification
 Young rider classification
 General Super Team Intermediate sprint classification Combativity classification Breakaway classification Fair play classification
1 Filippo Ganna Filippo Ganna Filippo Ganna Not awarded Filippo Ganna Team Jumbo–Visma Not awarded Filippo Ganna Not awarded Ineos Grenadiers
2 Tim Merlier Tim Merlier Vincenzo Albanese Filippo Ganna Filippo Tagliani
3 Taco van der Hoorn Simon Pellaud Vincenzo Albanese
4 Joe Dombrowski Alessandro De Marchi Joe Dombrowski Attila Valter Team Bahrain Victorious Alessandro De Marchi Israel Start-Up Nation
5 Caleb Ewan Giacomo Nizzolo Filippo Tagliani Simon Pellaud
6 Gino Mäder Attila Valter Gino Mäder Gino Mäder Groupama–FDJ
7 Caleb Ewan Caleb Ewan Simon Pellaud Simon Pellaud Simon Pellaud
8 Victor Lafay Tim Merlier Ineos Grenadiers
9 Egan Bernal Egan Bernal Geoffrey Bouchard Egan Bernal Trek–Segafredo
10 Peter Sagan Peter Sagan
11 Mauro Schmid Team Bahrain Victorious
12 Andrea Vendrame Dries De Bondt
13 Giacomo Nizzolo Umberto Marengo Simon Pellaud
14 Lorenzo Fortunato
15 Victor Campenaerts Trek–Segafredo Dries De Bondt
16 Egan Bernal
17 Dan Martin Ineos Grenadiers Dries De Bondt
18 Alberto Bettiol Team DSM
19 Simon Yates Ineos Grenadiers
20 Damiano Caruso
21 Filippo Ganna
Final Egan Bernal Peter Sagan Geoffrey Bouchard Egan Bernal Ineos Grenadiers Dries De Bondt Dries De Bondt Simon Pellaud Team Bahrain Victorious
  • On stage 2, Edoardo Affini, who was second in the points classification, wore the cyclamen jersey, because first placed Filippo Ganna wore the pink jersey as the leader of the general classification. Because Ganna and Affini were also the first two riders in the young rider classification, Tobias Foss, who was third in the young rider classification, wore the white jersey.
  • On stage 3, Edoardo Affini, who was second in the young rider classification, wore the white jersey, because first placed Filippo Ganna wore the pink jersey as the leader of the general classification. For the same reason, Tobias Foss wore the white jersey on stage 4.
  • On stage 6, Vincenzo Albanese, who was second in the mountains classification, wore the blue jersey, because first placed Joe Dombrowski didn't start the stage after a crash and a subsequent injury late in stage 5.
  • On stages 7–9, Remco Evenepoel, who was second in the young rider classification, wore the white jersey, because first placed Attila Valter wore the pink jersey as the leader of the general classification. On stages 10 and 11, Evenepoel continued wearing the white jersey, but with Egan Bernal as the leader of the general classification. For the same reason, Aleksandr Vlasov wore the white jersey on stages 12–21.

Race Overview

The Giro was originally slated to have its stage one Big Start in Sicily, but it was relocated to begin in Turin.

Final classification standings
Legend
Denotes the winner of the general classification Denotes the winner of the mountains classification
Denotes the winner of the points classification Denotes the winner of the young rider classification

General classification
Final general classification (1–10)[16][17]
Rank Rider Team Time
1  Egan Bernal (COL) Ineos Grenadiers 86h 17' 28"
2  Damiano Caruso (ITA) Team Bahrain Victorious + 1' 29"
3  Simon Yates (GBR) Team BikeExchange + 4' 15"
4  Aleksandr Vlasov (RUS) Astana–Premier Tech + 6' 40"
5  Daniel Martínez (COL) Ineos Grenadiers + 7' 24"
6  João Almeida (POR) Deceuninck–Quick-Step + 7' 24"
7  Romain Bardet (FRA) Team DSM + 8' 05"
8  Hugh Carthy (GBR) EF Education–Nippo + 8' 56"
9  Tobias Foss (NOR) Team Jumbo–Visma + 11' 44"
10  Dan Martin (IRL) Israel Start-Up Nation + 18' 35"

Points classification

Final points classification (1–10)[16][17]
Rank Rider Team Points
1  Peter Sagan (SVK) Bora–Hansgrohe 136
2  Davide Cimolai (ITA) Israel Start-Up Nation 118
3  Fernando Gaviria (COL) UAE Team Emirates 116
4  Elia Viviani (ITA) Cofidis 86
5  Egan Bernal (COL) Ineos Grenadiers 80
6  Dries De Bondt (BEL) Alpecin–Fenix 71
7  Andrea Pasqualon (ITA) Intermarché–Wanty–Gobert Matériaux 61
8  Simone Consonni (ITA) Cofidis 60
9  Edoardo Affini (ITA) Team Jumbo–Visma 59
10  Alberto Bettiol (ITA) EF Education–Nippo 57

Mountains classification

Final mountains classification (1–10)[16][17]
Rank Rider Team Points
1  Geoffrey Bouchard (FRA) AG2R Citroën Team 184
2  Egan Bernal (COL) Ineos Grenadiers 140
3  Damiano Caruso (ITA) Team Bahrain Victorious 99
4  Dan Martin (IRL) Israel Start-Up Nation 83
5  Simon Yates (GBR) Team BikeExchange 61
6  João Almeida (POR) Deceuninck–Quick-Step 54
7  Bauke Mollema (NED) Trek–Segafredo 53
8  Lorenzo Fortunato (ITA) Eolo–Kometa 52
9  Romain Bardet (FRA) Team DSM 49
10  Michael Storer (AUS) Team DSM 46

Young rider classification

Final young rider classification (1–10)[16][17]
Rank Rider Team Time
1  Egan Bernal (COL) Ineos Grenadiers 86h 17' 28"
2  Aleksandr Vlasov (RUS) Astana–Premier Tech + 6' 40"
3  Daniel Martínez (COL) Ineos Grenadiers + 7' 24"
4  João Almeida (POR) Deceuninck–Quick-Step + 7' 24"
5  Tobias Foss (NOR) Team Jumbo–Visma + 11' 44"
6  Attila Valter (HUN) Groupama–FDJ + 45' 30"
7  Lorenzo Fortunato (ITA) Eolo–Kometa + 47' 31"
8  Michael Storer (AUS) Team DSM + 1h 49' 05"
9  Harold Tejada (COL) Astana–Premier Tech + 2h 01' 12"
10  Alessandro Covi (ITA) UAE Team Emirates + 2h 03' 30"

Team classification

Final team classification (1–10)[16][17]
Rank Team Time
1 Ineos Grenadiers 259h 30' 31"
2 Team Jumbo–Visma + 26' 52"
3 Team DSM + 29' 09"
4 Astana–Premier Tech + 33' 05"
5 Team BikeExchange + 1h 15' 12"
6 Trek–Segafredo + 1h 27' 09"
7 Movistar Team + 1h 28' 18"
8 Deceuninck–Quick-Step + 1h 37' 51"
9 Team Bahrain Victorious + 1h 51' 05"
10 UAE Team Emirates + 1h 54' 04"

Intermediate sprint classification

Final intermediate sprint classification (1–10)[16][17]
Rank Rider Team Points
1  Dries De Bondt (BEL) Alpecin–Fenix 70
2  Umberto Marengo (ITA) Bardiani–CSF–Faizanè 64
3  Simon Pellaud (SUI) Androni Giocattoli–Sidermec 53
4  Samuele Rivi (ITA) Eolo–Kometa 32
5  Filippo Tagliani (ITA) Androni Giocattoli–Sidermec 30
6  Francesco Gavazzi (ITA) Eolo–Kometa 23
7  Andrea Pasqualon (ITA) Intermarché–Wanty–Gobert Matériaux 21
8  Fernando Gaviria (COL) UAE Team Emirates 21
9  Simone Ravanelli (ITA) Androni Giocattoli–Sidermec 18
10  Mark Christian (GBR) Eolo–Kometa 16

Combativity classification

Final combativity classification (1–10)[16][17]
Rank Rider Team Points
1  Dries De Bondt (BEL) Alpecin–Fenix 53
2  Egan Bernal (COL) Ineos Grenadiers 51
3  Simon Pellaud (SUI) Androni Giocattoli–Sidermec 39
4  Umberto Marengo (ITA) Bardiani–CSF–Faizanè 36
5  Geoffrey Bouchard (FRA) AG2R Citroën Team 32
6  Damiano Caruso (ITA) Team Bahrain Victorious 31
7  João Almeida (POR) Deceuninck–Quick-Step 31
8  Fernando Gaviria (COL) UAE Team Emirates 26
9  Dan Martin (IRL) Israel Start-Up Nation 22
10  Francesco Gavazzi (ITA) Eolo–Kometa 21

Breakaway classification

Final breakaway classification (1–10)[16][17]
Rank Rider Team Kilometers
1  Simon Pellaud (SUI) Androni Giocattoli–Sidermec 783
2  Umberto Marengo (ITA) Bardiani–CSF–Faizanè 648
3  Samuele Rivi (ITA) Eolo–Kometa 414
4  Vincenzo Albanese (ITA) Eolo–Kometa 368
5  Taco van der Hoorn (NED) Intermarché–Wanty–Gobert Matériaux 355
6  Mark Christian (GBR) Eolo–Kometa 281
7  Alexis Gougeard (FRA) AG2R Citroën Team 274
8  Filippo Tagliani (ITA) Androni Giocattoli–Sidermec 224
9  Quinten Hermans (BEL) Intermarché–Wanty–Gobert Matériaux 196
10  Samuele Zoccarato (ITA) Bardiani–CSF–Faizanè 169

Fair play classification

Final fair play classification (1–10)[16][17]
Rank Team Points
1 Team Bahrain Victorious 0
2 Team Jumbo–Visma 0
3 Israel Start-Up Nation 0
4 Ineos Grenadiers 20
5 Team Qhubeka Assos 20
6 Lotto–Soudal 20
7 EF Education–Nippo 30
8 Deceuninck–Quick-Step 50
9 Team DSM 50
10 Groupama–FDJ 50

Notes
  1. The original distance was 3,479.9 km (2,162.3 mi).
  2. The stage distance originally was 212 km (132 mi), however the route was changed due to weather, shortening it to 153 km (95 mi).[14]
  3. The stage distance originally was 176 km (109 mi), however the route was changed to avoid the climb of Mottarone due to the Stresa–Mottarone cable car crash, shortening it to 166 km (103 mi).[15]

References
  1. "Giro d'Italia to start from Sicily in 2021". SBS. 27 March 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  2. "Giro d'Italia to start from Sicily in 2021". Eurosport Asia. 26 March 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  3. "Sicily confirmed as host of Giro d'Italia 2021 start". CyclingNews. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  4. Farrand, Stephen (4 February 2021). "2021 Giro d'Italia to start in Turin". CyclingNews. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  5. Farrand, Stephen (24 February 2021). "Giro d'Italia 2021 route revealed". CyclingNews. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  6. Ryan, Barry (11 February 2021). "Savio decries 'sporting infamy' as Androni-Sidermec miss out on Giro d'Italia wildcard". CyclingNews. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  7. "The Teams". Giro d'Italia. RCS Sport. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  8. Ostanek, Daniel (10 February 2021). "Eolo-Kometa lead 2021 Giro d'Italia wildcards". CyclingNews. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  9. Giuliani, Simone; Ostanek, Daniel (15 April 2021). "Vini Zabù withdraws from the Giro d'Italia after Matteo De Bonis EPO positive". CyclingNews. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  10. Farrand, Stephen (15 April 2021). "Vini Zabù withdraws from the Giro d'Italia after Matteo De Bonis EPO positive". CyclingNews. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  11. Cash, Dane (7 May 2021). "Preview: Your guide to the 2021 Giro d'Italia contenders, sprinters and more". Cyclingtips. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  12. Benson, Daniel (30 April 2021). "Giro d'Italia 2021: The Essential race preview". Cyclingnews. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  13. "The route of the 104th Giro d'Italia is officially unveiled". Giro d'Italia. RCS Sport. 24 February 2021. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  14. "Giro d'Italia queen stage cut back due to weather and safety concerns". www.cyclingnews.com. CyclingNews. 24 May 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  15. "Modifica Percorso Tappa 19". www.giroditalia.it (in Italian). Giro d'Italia. 25 May 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  16. "Rankings in the Giro d'Italia 2021". Giro d'Italia. RCS Sport. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  17. "Giro d'Italia - 21 - Senago - Milano TISSOT ITT". Giro d'Italia. Tissot Timing. 30 May 2021. Retrieved 30 May 2021.

Sources
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