Mark Cavendish wins final stage of Giro d’Italia as Roglic takes overall victory | Giro d’Italia

Mark Cavendish marked his last appearance at the Giro d’Italia with a sensational sprint victory in the final stage, surging over the line to seal a fairytale finish for the Manxman.

The 38-year-old, who announced earlier in the race that he will retire from cycling at the end of the season, was helped to victory by his fellow Briton, Geraint Thomas, who saw his dreams of overall Giro victory dashed by Primoz Roglic on Saturday.

“I’m super happy,” said a smiling Cavendish afterwards. “It was a long, hard slog to get here to the end of the Giro … my boys did incredible, my friends did incredible.

“I had some great friends today, longtime friends. It’s pretty emotional to be fair … to win here in Rome, it’s beautiful.”

Thomas is unlikely to visit the remote corner of north-eastern Italy ever again, where, on Saturday afternoon, the Slovenian Roglic wrenched the maglia rosa of Giro d’Italia leadership from the Welshman’s weary shoulders in one of the most dramatic reversals in the history of cycling’s Grand Tours.

Roglic’s devastating performance, in the mountain time trial to Monte Lussari, was the equal of Tadej Pogacar’s in the penultimate stage of the 2020 Tour de France on La Planche des Belles Filles, when he overhauled his compatriot to claim his first yellow jersey.

This time though, the tables were turned. This time it was Roglic, the Jumbo-Visma team leader, who dished out the pain, with Thomas in the role of the shell-shocked and distraught victim.

Roglic, three times a winner of the Vuelta a Espana, crossed the line in Sunday’s final processional 126-kilometre stage in Rome to claim his first Giro and the fourth Grand Tour of his career.

This was a monumental finish to an otherwise unremarkable Giro, in keeping with the epic battle between Laurent Fignon and Greg LeMond in the 1989 Tour de France and the Roglic-Pogacar duel in 2020’s pandemic Tour. It may not have been the closest finish in Grand Tour or Giro history, but it was certainly one of the most dramatic.

“He smashed me,” said Thomas, of his 40-second defeat by Roglic on the horrendous climb to the summit finish.

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What made the 33-year-old’s performance all the more remarkable was that he suffered a mechanical problem midway through the climb, instantly reviving memories of past traumas, that could have cost him everything. After hitting a bump in the already rough road, Roglic’s chain slipped from his bike, forcing him to stop. However, he remained composed, climbed back on and resumed his high pace.

As the Slovenian shipped his chain, the Welshman’s hopes were sinking. After a painfully slow bike and helmet change at the foot of the climb, Ineos Grenadiers’ leader had never found his rhythm.

As the kilometres ticked agonisingly by, it was clear that he was losing the Giro. “I don’t want to sound like I’m making excuses,” he said afterwards, “but I just didn’t feel like I had that real ‘grunt’.”

In the closing kilometres, the contrast was stark, with Roglic smooth and purposeful, and Thomas rocking and rolling. In fairness to Thomas, his own performance was of the highest calibre and secured second place on the stage. But it still wasn’t enough.

The 26-second lead, built up over three torturous weeks of racing, evaporated in the thin mountain air, leaving the Welshman drained as he slumped beyond the finish line. Thomas was as generous as ever in defeat.

“Primoz deserves that,” the 37-year-old said. “He had a mechanical and he still put 40 seconds into me, so chapeau to him. I guess it’s nice to lose by that much, rather than a second or two, because that would be worse I think.”

In contrast, Roglic, buoyed up the climb by thousands of Slovenian fans, was exultant. “When I knew the crowds that would be up here, on my turf, I had goosebumps,” he said. “To be a person that people come to support is special. I’m extremely proud to be that person. I’ll definitely remember this day for the rest of my life.”

Thomas has finished on the podium in four of the last five Grand Tours he had finished and despite this loss, is a model of consistency.

“‘G’ has been in so many diverse environments and events, from the Olympics to the Tours, he’s had incredible success in his career and some near-misses as well, and this is one of those,” said Oli Cookson, the Ineos Grenadiers sports director. “He’s shown time and time again that he comes back for more. He’s an icon for the sport and a gentleman and does it with humility and grit and determination.”

There was compassion for the popular Thomas but equally a sense of redemption for Roglic, after the devastating defeat of three years ago. “It’s unfair to compare victories, [to] say which is more or less. But this says who I am,” Roglic said. “I always have hope and fight on. That’s the story of my Giro.”