After Dumoulin and Van Emden, a relaxed Groenewegen hopes to write his own Giro story in Milan

Milan has hosted the Giro d'Italia many times as either a start or a finish, but a road stage has not ended in the Lombard fashion capital for quite some time. In 2017, 2020 and 2021, the race concluded in Milan with a time trial — with Jos van Emden's stage win and Tom Dumoulin's overall victory in 2017 forever etched in Dutch cycling memory. Will Dylan Groenewegen join his compatriots on Sunday?

Groenewegen's Giro — and that of Unibet Rose Rockets — can so far be described as hopeful, enthusiastic, impressive and yet deeply unlucky. The team led by Bas Tietema arrived at the race with Groenewegen as their sprint leader, supported by Marcel Kittel — who has guided Groenewegen's sprint development in recent months as sprint coach.

The Rockets showed flashes of their true potential in this Giro and never shied away from controlling a race. But being a sprinter carries risks, as Groenewegen discovered on days one and six. On stage one he went down in a mass crash, and on stage six he and lead-out rider Elmar Reinders crashed in the final corner.

In the days after stage six in Naples, the Rockets had no more sprint chances. On day twelve there was a half-opportunity, but Movistar — not for the first time in this Giro — made life difficult on the climbs and Groenewegen was dropped. He and the team have had to make peace with what might have been in the first two weeks.

"Flat is always better, so when I look at the stages in Milan and Rome, those are the best ones for me," Groenewegen said this week, among others to IDL Pro Cycling. "But some other finishes in this Giro also looked good on paper for me. Stages with multiple scenarios — that's what we have the boys for. But you don't always control what happens."

The crashes on stages one and six have left no lasting marks. Groenewegen says he is fully ready for Sunday's sprint opportunity in Milan. "I fell twice on my right side, but I feel completely recovered. Of course you can still be a bit stiff sometimes, but on the bike everything is normal. The legs are also good, even after the second rest day."

The pieces now simply need to fall into place. Kittel's frustration after the stage six crash in Naples was not without reason — everyone at Unibet Rose Rockets knew that day just how close they had been. "Naples gave us a huge amount of confidence. When you can ride a finale like that and deliver a lead-out like that, you want to win as well," Groenewegen agreed.

"But it also gave us the motivation to do it again. It was one of the best lead-outs I've ever had in a Grand Tour. I was genuinely thrilled with that," beamed the 32-year-old Dutchman. All the ingredients are in place for stages fifteen and twenty-one, where two flat finishes await.

Groenewegen and the Rockets head into the final week without Kittel, who left on the second rest day as planned. But the German will be watching and analysing from his "sprint control room" at home as his train lines up in Milan on Sunday.

Groenewegen was third on stage three — the only time he truly competed for the result. He said afterwards that he had launched his sprint too late.

"In the end, out of three chances, we managed one real sprint and I crashed in two. That's part of it — you have to move quickly to the next one," he said with quiet determination. "I can actually handle that reasonably well. We have until Rome to put our best foot forward. With a bit of luck, it will go our way."

Alongside Kittel, wife Nine and son Mayson will also be watching from the roadside. They saw their husband and father crash — but: "They know how hard I work, including in all the training camps building towards a Grand Tour. When you crash, it's never fun, but you always have to get back up. With a little more luck, we could have had a perfect record in the Giro sprints — but it is what it is. We'd love to turn it around."