Jonathan Milan wins gladiatorial sprint in Rome on final day of the Giro d'Italia

Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) won the final stage of the Giro d'Italia in Rome on Sunday. He raised his hands in the air in front of the Colosseum. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma Lease a Bike) completed the stage unscathed and can therefore call himself the overall winner.

Visma | Lease a Bike have dominated the Giro d’Italia, and Jonas Vingegaard proved as expected to be the best climber. The Dane won no fewer than five stages and starts in pink in the final stage. On Piancavallo he put the finishing touches on the race. Behind him, Thymen Arensman just failed to secure the podium: the Dutchman from Netcompany INEOS finishes fourth.

Where it used to be tradition to finish in Milan, the Italian capital Rome has taken over that role. It is the fourth year in a row that the Giro will end with a flat stage in the city of Romulus and Remus.

Before the riders took on the circuit — on which there would be real racing — it was time for the annual parade. The familiar photos, the toasts and, of course, a special kit for the Visma | Lease a Bike riders and special equipment for overall winner Jonas Vingegaard, including pink glitter shoes.

The first bit of suspense came with the intermediate sprint, 108 kilometres from the finish. Manuele Tarozzi of VF Group-Bardiani could still win the intermediate sprint standings and therefore attacked just before the arch. The peloton, led by Visma | Lease a Bike, let him go for that secondary prize.

The Dutch team then stayed on the front, which will undoubtedly produce nice pictures as they passed Rome’s tourist landmarks. The first attack came 70 kilometres from the finish, but the peloton had learned from Fredrik Dversners’s breakaway stage to Milan: nobody was allowed to gain an easy gap.

Among others, Nico Denz of Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe and Mirco Maestri of Polti VisitMalta tried to get away as known attackers, but were kept in check mainly by Soudal Quick-Step. Ben Turner of Netcompany INEOS and Andrea Mifsud of Polti VisitMalta eventually gained a little breathing room, but Movistar brought them back just before the Red Bull sprint. That effort was in vain, because their rival Igor Arrieta won the sprint for a nice cash prize.

Straight after that sprint, it looked like a good moment to attack again, but the sprinter teams were also aware of that and kept control. Unibet Rose Rockets rider Tomas Kopecky punctured, but with 40 kilometres to go he had enough time to make it back to the front.

Tobias Bayer of Alpecin-Premier Tech and Remy Rochas of Groupama-FDJ made another attempt, but for them too it was a case of banging their heads against a brick wall. The next attack, however, came from Victor Campenaerts with 25 kilometres to go. Remi Cavagna and Matteo Sobrero followed, although the latter was acting as bodyguard for sprinter Milan.

A little later, a group joined them, including Filippo Ganna of Netcompany INEOS and the Magnier and Milan sprint trains. Ganna then added another layer of pressure, with Stuyven and Sobrero again in his wheel. Unibet Rose Rockets were the big absentee with 15 kilometres left, although they were helped by Stuyven and Sobrero’s unwillingness to do too much work at the front, leaving Ganna to keep pushing on.

Sobrero and Stuyven kept their word to sprinters Milan and Magnier, while Ganna kept the lead intact on his own at about 20 seconds against the Rockets train. Teams such as Groupama-FDJ, Picnic PostNL Raisin and Tudor came to the rescue, but with the final lap of 9 kilometers ahead it became a precarious situation for the peloton.

Soudal Quick-Step, however, was in a seat, with Stuyven not riding at the front and Magnier in the peloton waiting for his opportunity. The Rockets then decided to start their lead-out seven kilometers from the finish: the Kopecky brothers had to start work a lot earlier than planned in the original plan. Lukas Kubis also did a very impressive turn.

The Slovakian champion eventually closed the last gap, three kilometers from the finish. The next attack came behind again, from Maestri. This time the sprinters were not surprised, with Lidl-Trek and Soudal Quick-Step in the lead. They outpaced the Rockets, although they were able to catch up well.

Stuyven took the lead again, while Reinders placed Groenewegen in Magnier's wheel. He had to follow his lead-out Vandenbossche quite early, so it was Groenewegen who was in a seat. The Dutchman started well, but it was Milan who overwhelmed everything and everyone in Rome. Groenewegen came fourth.