On his Giro d’Italia debut, Tadej Pogačar claimed the overall crown by a margin the sport last saw almost sixty years ago. He finished 9 minutes and 56 seconds clear of Daniel Felipe Martínez and collected six stage victories plus the blue mountains jersey.
A solo statement on Monte Grappa
The penultimate stage sent the race over Monte Grappa twice in 175 kilometres. On the second ascent Giulio Pellizzari slipped away alone with sixteen kilometres remaining, while Rafał Majka whittled the group of favourites behind Pogačar.
Pellizzari’s lead shrank to one minute with six kilometres left. Then Pogačar launched his move, caught the lone Italian with 4.7 kilometres to climb, and crossed the summit two minutes ahead of the chasers.
He rode alone to the mountain-top win, Valentin Paret‑Peintre taking second at 2:07. The victory locked a sixth stage and left the general classification almost ten minutes in his favour.
Pink from start to finish
Pogačar had worn the leader’s jersey since winning stage two. He carried it through the final 125-kilometre ceremonial leg into Rome, crossing safely in the bunch as Tim Merlier won the sprint.
Only Vittorio Adorni’s 1965 Giro win produced a larger Grand Tour gap. Pogačar also joined Eddy Merckx as the only post‑war riders to hold multiple leader’s jerseys across the race and take the overall title.
“This is even better than the real thing,” he told reporters. “You never know how it feels until you try and I can say this is a dream come true.”
A Giro–Tour double, unseen since 1998, now waited.
