Mads Pedersen wins stage 6(Image credit: Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
(Image credit: Getty Images)
(Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
Aurlien Paret-Peintre of AG2R Citroën Team celebrates at finish line as stage 4 winner ahead of Andreas Leknessund of Team DSM(Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
Andreas Leknessund ofTeam DSM crosses the finish line as second place finisher(Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
With the time he earned on his second-placed finish, Andreas Leknessund of Team DSM put on the Pink Leader Jersey after stage 4(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
In a thrilling finale to the 2023 Giro d'Italia, Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) celebrated a largely ceremonial day of racing as the winner of the overall title, while Mark Cavendish triumphed with the stage 21 victory in Rome.
In what was a stunning performance on the decisive stage 20 mountain time trial, Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) won the day's stage and took the maglia rosa from overnight leader Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers). The Slovenian is now poised to win the overall title as the race heads into the finale in Rome.
The breakaway took the day on the queen stage of the 2023 Giro d'Italia, with Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain-Victorious) demoting Derek Gee to yet another second place, mowing the Canadian down after he'd launched a courageous move on the steep ascent to Tre Cime Lavaredo. In the maglia rosa group, João Almeida lost his chances of winning the Giro, while Primož Roglič carved out three seconds in the final metres over race leader Geraint Thomas.
The breakaway gained enough time to contest the stage win in the first of three big days in the Dolomites. Filippo Zana (Jayco-AlUla) delivered more heartbreak to Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), snatching the stage win at Val di Zoldo from the Frenchman. The GC shifted slightly with Geraint Thomas (Ineos) unflappable in the face of an attack from Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma), while João Almeida (UAE) had to fight to limit his losses.
It was a day for the sprinters with no climbs, and Alberto Dainese (Team DSM) took full advantage storming to the bunch-sprint victory ahead of Jonathan Milan (Bahrain Victorious) and Michael Matthews (Jayco-AlUla) in Caorle. With no changes to the overall classification, Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) carries the leader's jersey into the mountains throughout the final week of racing.
The Giro d'Italia continued after the second rest day with the peloton tasked with the summit finish atop Monte Bondone, in what many hoped would reignite the battle for the GC in the final week of racing. João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) won the race to the summit, beating Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) at the line. Thomas regained the pink jersey, with both riders putting time into Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma).
Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) outsprinted Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) and Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech) after an exciting battle to the line to win the ‘mini Il Lombardia’ in Bergamo. The trio escaped from the 17-man breakaway on the final climb, with Frigo battling back to catch back after faltering on the ascent. Bruno Armirail (Groupama-FDJ) remained in the maglia rosa with a 1:08 lead on Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) heading into the second rest day.
Emerging from the breakaway, Nico Denz (Bora-Hansgrohe) almost celebrated too soon at the end of stage 14, but just held on to beat out Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech) for the victory. Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost) rounded out the podium after leading out the sprint. Bruno Armirail (Groupama-FDJ) jumped into the maglia rosa with a 20-minute time gain from the breakaway. Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) gave up the lead on another long wet day and now sits in second overall at 1:41 down.
Einer Rubio (Movistar) emerged from a three-rider breakaway to win stage 13 of the Giro d'Italia at Crans-Montana in Switzerland. Soon-to-retire French rider Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) fell short near the finish line to place second, while EF Education-EasyPost's Alexander Cepeda was third. There was lots of drama well before the finish line, as organisers had to cut the stage short by 74.6km due to bad weather conditions, teams having to transfer to Switzerland by bus and take a new start after the Grand St Bernard Pass.
It was a day for the breakaway as Nico Denz (Bora-Hansgrohe) sprinted to victory from a three-rider move that successfully made it to the finish line in Rivoli. There was no threat to the general classification contenders, even as the main field finished more than eight minutes behind the break, with Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) holding onto the maglia rosa.
Despite the hills and all-day breakaway on stage 11, the race ended in a thrilling bunch sprint that came down to a photo finish in Tortona. Officials awarded the victory to Pascal Ackermann (UAE Team Emirates), who finished on the line with maglia ciclamino Jonathan Milan (Bahrain Victorious) and Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan). A mid-race crash took down Ineos Grenadier's Tao Geoghegan Hart, who was forced to abandon, while Pavel Sivakov also crashed and dropped out of the top 10 overall. Geraint Thomas maintained his overall lead heading into stage 12.
The Giro d'Italia resumed after the first rest day, with Magnus Cort (EF Education-EasyPost) winning stage 10 from a breakaway sprint in Viareggio. Although there was discussion of shortening the stage due to cold, wet and windy conditions, the peloton completed the full 196km. The stage also marked the first day for Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) in the maglia rosa after Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) was forced to abandon the race due to a positive test for COVID-19. He finished safely in the field to maintain a two-second lead on runner-up Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma).
The 35 kilometre individual time trial was not exactly the rout expected from Remco Evenepoel, but the Belgian champion managed to win the stage - albeit by one second over a profoundly disappointed Geraint Thomas - and retake the pink jersey.
After an impressive Spring Classics campaign, Ben Healy added to his rapidly growing palmares with a commanding solo victory in Fossombrone. The Irishman attacked his breakaway companions on the short but steep I Cappuccini climb with 50km to go and soloed in for his first Grand Tour stage win.
Behind, Primož Roglič attacked maglia rosa holder Andreas Leknessund and, along with Ineos' Geraint Thomas and Tao Geoghegan Hart, gained 24 seconds on the race leader. Remco Evenepoel also lost ground on the attackers but gained on Leknessund at 14 seconds.
Davide Bais (Eolo-Kometa) secured his first pro victory in memorable fashion, taking the honours atop the Gran Sasso d'Italia at Campo Imperatore. Part of a three-rider breakaway that succeeded at the finish line, Bais was the strongest, dropping his rivals inside the finale few hundred metres to take the win.
The peloton caught breakaways Simon Clarke (Israel-Premier Tech) and Alessandro De Marchi (Jayco-AlUla) with just 300 metres to race, in time for Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) to secure the sprint victory in Naples, beating Jonathan Milan (Bahrain Victorious) and Pascal Ackerman (UAE Team Emirates) to the line.
Aurélien Paret-Peintre (AG2R Citroën) and Andreas Leknessund (Team DSM) split the spoils on stage 4 of the Giro d’Italia with the Frenchman winning the stage in a two-up sprint, and the Norwegian taking the maglia rosa after a tough day at the front of the race.
After a hard day out in front of the race, the pair powered away from the seven-rider breakaway on the climb to Lago Laceno.
Leader into the stage, Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) let the break go up the road, crossing the line 2:01 behind the winner. Evenepoel is now second overall at 28 seconds, with Paret-Peintre third at 30 seconds.
Michael Matthews took his first victory of 2023 in Melfi after his Jayco-AlUla squad executed a perfect strategy. The team closed down the early breakaway, distanced most of Matthews' sprint rivals and then lead him into the twisting finish.
The Australian jumped first but managed to hold on to beat Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) and Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck).
Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) stayed safe all day and even gained second on his overall rivals at a late intermediate sprint.
Jonathan Milan (Bahrain Victorious) took his first WorldTour win on his Grand Tour debut, using his track speed and power to win the sprint in San Salvo.
The track pursuiter avoided the late crash that disrupted the finale and then produced the speed to go clear of David Dekker (Arkéa Samsic) and Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck).
Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) enjoyed his first day in the maglia rosa but only just avoided the late crash, going on to blame Groves for the incident. The Australian insisted it was a 'race incident'.
Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) won the opening 19.6km time trial along the Adriatic coast to take early control of the 2023 Giro d'Italia. The Belgian beat Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) by 22 seconds and João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) by 29 seconds.
Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) lost 43 seconds, with other overall contenders losing much more as Evenepoel showed he was on form and ready to fight for victory.
The 106th edition of the Giro d'Italia is upon us with the Corsa Rosa having kicked off along the Adriatic coast in Abruzzo on May 6, 2023 and traversing all but three of Italy's 20 regions before landing in the capital, Rome, on May 28.
The riders traverse the hills of the Apennines, the high mountains of the Alps and Dolomites, and the flatlands of the Po Valley along the way, while three time trials totalling 73km in length provide a test rarely seen in modern Grand Tours.
Many of the top contenders at the race – Roglič and Evenepoel as well as Geraint Thomas, Aleksandr Vlasov, and João Almeida – haven't won before, so we're likely to see a new name added to the Giro's honour roll.
2022 champion Jai Hindley isn't taking part, while previous winners Egan Bernal, Chris Froome and Richard Carapaz are also absent. 2020 winner Tao Geoghegan Hart (Ineos Grenadiers) will line up at the Grande Partenza as the only past champion on the start list.
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The Giro d'Italia 2023 route map (Image credit: RCS)
The 2023 Giro d'Italia will be the 106th edition of the Italian Grand Tour, taking place from May 6-28. The 2023 Giro d'Italia route will see the peloton visit 17 of Italy's 20 regions, with only Sicily, Sardinia, and Calabria missing out.
How to watch the Giro d'Italia
The 2023 Giro d'Italia will be broadcast worldwide on channels such as Eurosport, GCN, Flobikes and more. Find out how to watch the 2023 Giro d'Italia from anywhere.
Giro d'Italia contenders
Primož Roglič and Remco Evenepoel head up the contenders list (Image credit: JOSEP LAGOAFP via Getty Images)
The race is expected to be a showdown between the two major Giro d'Italia favourites 2022 Vuelta a España winner and world champion Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) and Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma).
Reigning champion Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) won't be taking the start, instead choosing to focus on July's Tour de France.
However, there are plenty of names to watch – we'll also be keeping our eyes on the likes of Tao Geoghegan Hart, Aleksandr Vlasov and João Almeida. For a full rundown of all of the Giro favourites you can read our full guide to the Giro d'Italia 2023 favourites and contenders.
The 18 WorldTeams earned automatic invitations to the 2023 Giro d'Italia along with the two ProTeams that were at the top of the UCI teams rankings in 2022. However, the latter – Lotto-Dstny and TotalEnergies declined their invitations, leaving four wildcard places.
Those are taken up by Italian ProTeams Eolo-Kometa, Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizané, and Team Corratec, while Israel-Premier Tech are also invited after their relegation from the WorldTour last year.
AG2R Citroën
Alpecin-Deceuninck
Astana Qazaqstan
Bahrain Victorious
Bora-Hansgrohe
Cofidis
EF Education-EasyPost
Eolo-Kometa
Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè
Groupama-FDJ
Ineos Grenadiers
Intermarché-Circus-Wanty
Israel-Premier Tech
Jumbo-Visma
Movistar
Soudal Quick-Step
Team Arkéa-Samsic
Team Corratec
Team DSM
Team Jayco-AlUla
Trek-Segafredo
UAE Team Emirates
Giro d'Italia records
Most overall wins: Fausto Coppi, Alfredo Binda, Eddy Merckx (five); Giovanni Brunero, Gino Bartali, Fiorenzo Magni, Felice Gimondi, Bernard Hinault (three).
Most stage wins: Mario Cipollini (42), Alfredo Binda (41), Learco Guerra (31), Constance Girardengo (30), Eddy Merckx (25) ... Mark Cavendish (16)
Most mountain classification wins: Gino Bartali (seven); José Manuel Fuentes (four); Fausto Coppi, Franco Bitossi, Claudio Bortolotto, Claudio Chiappucci (three)
Most points classification wins: Francesco Moser, Giuseppe Saronni (four); Roger De Vlaeminck, Johan van der Velde, Mario Cipollini (three)
Most starts: Wladimir Panizza (18); Pierino Gavazzi, Domenico Pozzovivo (17)
Youngest winner: Fausto Coppi, 1940 (20 years and 268 days)
Oldest winner: Fiorenzo Magni, 1955 (34 years and 180 days)
Smallest margin of victory: 11 seconds (Fiorenzo Magni, 1948)
Largest margin of victory: 1:57:26 (Alfonso Calzolari, 1914)
In a Giro that will be remembered in cycling history, Cyclingnews has curated some of the most iconic images of the closing weekend from photographer Chris Auld
