All the action from Nairo Quintana's debut grand tour win
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Nairo Quintana was ultimately declared a worthy Giro d'Italia champion, despite the controversial Stelvio stage.(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The Colombians celebrate(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Fabio Aru (Astana) gave Italy more to celebrate with an impressive win on Plan di Montecampione(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Dramatic conditions for the peloton as they climbed both the Gavia and Stelvio on stage 16 of the Giro d'Italia(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Julian Arredondo (Trek) had already confirmed himself as best climber when he won stage 18 of the Giro d'Italia(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Marcel Kittel (Giant-Shimano) wins stage 2 of the Giro d'Italia(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
In the red corner, its Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ) who claims the win(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Cadel Evans (BMC) enjoyed his final day in the pink jersey on stage 11(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Michael Matthews gets his dream victory, thanks in part to a crash-induced split in the finale.(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Daniel Martin sits stunned on the ground after crashing in the Giro d'Italia team time trial(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Rigoberto Uran (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) spent four days in the maglia rosa(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida) celebrates his first win of the Giro d'Italia(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The 2014 Giro d'Italia will be remembered for the success of Colombians and the polemics of stage 16 along with sub-plots and several standout performances by an emerging young generation.
The Giro witnesses a a celebration of Colombian cycling with Nairo Quintana winning the maglia rosa, Rigoberto Uran's second place overall and Julian Arredondo's victory in the mountain classification in his first grand tour. The first week of the race belonged to Orica-GreenEdge and Australia after the Irish Grand Partenza but following Uran's Stage 12 win, it was the Giro d'Colombia.
There was the polemica of the Stelvio on stage 16 and the mass crash on stage 6 to Montecassino that ended overall aspirations for numerous riders but when the race arrived in Trieste on June 1, Quintana had proved he was the strongest rider across an entertaining three-weeks of racing.
Irishman Dan Martin and Garmin Sharp had a horror start to the Giro with a crash during the team time trial resulting in broken collarbones for Martin and Koldo Fernandez, immediately ending the race for both riders.
Several other riders would also crash out of the Giro but with the exception of stage 16, the adverse weather of last year's Giro was thankfully absent.
Despite that fact that no European's wore the maglia rosa, there was still six stage wins for Italy, three for France, two for Germany and one each for the Netherlands and Slovenia.
The tifosi will look back to the Giro as the moment that two young Italians confirmed their arrival on the big stage.
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At last year's Giro, Fabio Aru was riding in support of Vincenzo Nibali but his third place overall signalled the arrival of a potential winner of the race while Diego Ulissi's two stage wins was further evidence that the younger generation has taken the mantle from the likes of Damiano Cunego, Michele Scarponi and Ivan Basso.
This was a race of youth with Marcel Kittel's two stage wins, Michael Matthews stage victory and six days in pink, Wilco Kelderman's seventh place overall and Nacer Bouhanni's three stage wins all confirmation of a new generation performing at the highest level.
Watch the video below to re-live all the highlights from the 2014 Giro and don't forget to subscribe to the Cyclingnews YouTube channel.
