Giro d’Italia 2024 Stage Report: UAE Team Emirates’ Slovenian champion has won the 2024 Giro d’Italia. The pink jersey even took part in the lead-out work in the final stage set in Rome, but it was Soudal Quick-Step’s Tim Merlier who won the last battle. The Belgian out-sprinted the points leader, Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), who had a big chase back to the peloton at 9 kilometres out. Pogačar crossed the line with his pink arms in the air.
The last kilometre
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Tim Merlier took his third Giro’24 stage win
Tim Merlier crossed the line as winner in the 21st and final stage of the 2024 Giro d’Italia. The Belgian of Soudal Quick-Step triumphed after a particularly hectic sprint in Rome. Jonathan Milan, who suffered a flat tyre in the finale, was second. Tadej Pogačar is the overall winner of the 107th Tour of Italy.
Stage 21 map and profile
The final stage features an approach from the start in RomaEUR to the first pass over the finish line, reaching the coast in Ostia, and going back to the start area, followed by a closing circuit within the Capital. The riders will race 8 loops of a 9.5km circuit on the streets of Rome (wide, with some traffic dividers). Short undulations are interspersed with long straight sections, connected by sometimes tricky bends. The road surface is mostly tarmac, with some short stretches over road pavers (“sanpietrini”). In the final kilometres, the route takes in some bends and a short climb. The home straight (350m), on road pavers, is 9m wide.
UAE Team Emirates go pink for the final stage 21
That’s the Giro in the bag for Pogačar – Next the Tour?
After 20 stages, 3,300 kilometres, 44,550 metres of climbing, six summit finishes, six sprint stages, two time trials and 42 categorised climbs, today was the final stage of the 2024 Giro d’Italia. The last stage was for the sprinters with the finale on the bumpy roads of the Italian capital city of Rome.
The leaders at the start
Ready to go for the last time in this year’s Giro d’Italia
After all the usual glasses of Prosecco and photo shots, it was time for the a bike race. The first hours were run at a leisurely pace. UAE Team Emirates, Pogacar’s team, initially took it easy, but they eventually decided to increase the pace. They must have wanted to get to Rome for the celebrations.
All roads lead to Rome
The victorious UAE Team Emirates
Once the peloton reached the circuit in Rome, Domenico Pozzovivo was allowed to be the first to start lap 1. The 41-year-old Italian of VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè has said this would be his last Giro stage today. Pozzovivo rode the Giro for the first time in 2005 and today completed his 18th Italian Grand Tour.
The Piazza Venezia
The Colosseum
The stage could then really start and there was an attack by four riders. Ewen Costiou (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Alex Baudin (Decathlon AG2R), Mikkel Honoré (EF Education-EasyPost) and Martin Marcellusi (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè) managed to get away. The lead got to about 30 seconds, but this was going to be the best they could hope for.
The break had no chance
The sprinter’s teams were not going to lose the last chance for a stage win and so the race came together with 13 kilometres to go. The nervousness in the peloton and this caused a crash including Hugo Hofstetter and a very annoyed Dries De Pooter. Both were able to continue eventually.
The fans were out in Rome
At the start of the last lap, Jonathan Milan, the winner of the purple points jersey and one of the favourites for the stage victory in Rome, had bike trouble and had to wait a long time for a new bike. The big Italian now looked out of luck for the win, but with a lot of hard work and some help from the team cars, he managed to return to the bunch. He was soon back in a good position for the finish thanks to his teammates.
The peloton thundered down the Roman streets to the the finish
The Lidl-Trek team still managed to set up a perfect lead-out for the Italian. After a bit effort from Stuyven, Milan looked boxed in and Lidl-Trek failed to regain control. Tim Merlier took full advantage of the chaos. The Belgian positioned himself perfectly amongst the sprint craziness. He was the first to jump, just before the cobbles towards the finish line. With a long sprint he managed to hold off Milan, who must have been at the end of his strengths after his chase. Kaden Groves took third place again, Fernando Gaviria and Tim van Dijke were fourth and fifth.
Pogačar took to some lead-out work
Tadej Pogačar crossed the line not far behind the sprinters. The Slovenian had been in the sprint to lead-out his teammate, Juan Sebastian Molano, but the Colombian didn’t have the legs. The UAE Team Emirates and Pogačar will be celebrating this evening as they came to Italy and conquered the Giro… You could say; dominated the Giro.
The stage went to Tim Merlier
Stage winner, Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step): “It wasn’t a perfect win. I have to say sorry to the guys. I had the best legs but we played “casino” at the end. We were together until 2km to go. But I lost the wheel of my lead out man. I told Bert [Van Lerberghe] I wanted to enter the cobbled section in fifth or sixth wheel and then go with my speed like I did sometimes in Nokere also on the cobblestones in Belgium. For the people, this is a very big win. For myself, it feels strange because everyone was already partying on the plane yesterday. But for a sprinter it’s very nice to win here.”
A yellow bike next?
Final overall winner and KOM of the 2024 Giro d’Italia, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates): “I’m speechless about this moment in Rome. It’s crazy. We wanted to be in front in the finale of today’s stage. It was quite technical and bumpy. We did super well with the boys. It’s unlucky Molano didn’t have very good legs but we did the rest of the job so well. So we’re happy. I have a lot of fond memories of this Giro. In a while I’ll realise which one was the best moment. In general it was a beautiful Giro. The Maglia Rosa is really special. It’s been a crazy experience to have it for twenty days. All the fans have been incredibly good.”
Another for the Pogačar collection
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Giro d’Italia Stage 21 Result:
1. Tim Merlier (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step in 2:51:50
2. Jonathan Milan (Ita) Lidl-Trek
3. Kaden Groves (Aus) Alpecin-Deceuninck
4. Fernando Gaviria (Col) Movistar
5. Tim van Dijke (Ned) Visma | Lease a Bike
6. Stanisław Aniołkowski (Pol) Cofidis
7. Alberto Dainese (Ita) Tudor
8. Giovanni Lonardi (Ita) Polti Kometa
9. Caleb Ewan (Aus) Jayco AlUla
10. Donavan Grondin (Fra) Arkéa-B&B Hotels.
Giro d’Italia Final Overall Result:
1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates in 79:14:03
2. Daniel Felipe Martínez (Col) BORA-hansgrohe at 9:56
3. Geraint Thomas (GB) INEOS Grenadiers at 10:24
4. Ben O’Connor (Aus) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale at 12:07
5. Antonio Tiberi (Ita) Bahrain-Victorious at 12:49
6. Thymen Arensman (Ned) INEOS Grenadiers at 14:31
7. Einer Rubio (Col) Movistar at 15:52
8. Jan Hirt (CZ) Soudal Quick-Step at 18:05
9. Romain Bardet (Fra) dsm-firmenich PostNL at 20:32
10. Michael Storer (Aus) Tudor at 21:11.
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