Creating history on Monte Grappa - Giro d'Italia stage 20 gallery
Tadej Pogačar goes solo to take glory once again as the Giro peloton faces its final mountain test before Rome
The 2024 Giro d'Italia is almost at an end, with only Sunday's finale in Rome – part-procession, part-sprint stage –before three weeks of racing at the first Grand Tour of the year draws to a close.
Of course, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) will be the rider coming to the end of his debut Giro with the fondest memories of the month. The maglia rosa rolls into the capital with nearly a 10-minute GC lead, having ridden a race of his own for the most part.
He'll also round off the first part of a potential Giro-Tour double with the maglia azzurra as mountain classification winner, and then there's the matter of those six stage wins – the most scored by any single rider in one edition of the race since Alessandro Petacchi's nine victories 20 years ago.
Pogačar's, likely, final stage win of the race came in the Veneto town of Bassano del Grappa, having once again taken off for a solo victory well ahead of any of his fellow GC contenders. He delivered a stinging attack over the famous Monte Grappa, catching and passing Giro revelation and breakaway survivor Giulio Pellizzari (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè) along the way.
With his win over the mountain, Pogačar followed in the wheel tracks of Emilio Casalini, Eddy Merckx, Vincenzo Nibali, Nairo Quintana, and Thibaut Pinot. Meanwhile, his 9:56 margin of victory is the largest since Vittorio Adorni's in 1965.
Our photographers were on hand to capture history in the making on Monte Grappa.
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Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, joining in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later being hired full-time. Before joining the team, they had written for numerous major publications in the cycling world, including CyclingWeekly and Rouleur.
Dani has reported from the world's top races, including the Tour de France, Road World Championships, and the spring Classics. They have interviewed many of the sport's biggest stars, including Mathieu van der Poel, Demi Vollering, and Remco Evenepoel. Their favourite races are the Giro d'Italia, Strade Bianche and Paris-Roubaix.
Season highlights from the 2024 season include reporting from Paris-Roubaix – 'Unless I'm in an ambulance, I'm finishing this race' – Cyrus Monk, the last man home at Paris-Roubaix – and the Tour de France – 'Disbelief', gratitude, and family – Mark Cavendish celebrates a record-breaking Tour de France sprint win.