Giro d'Italia 2018: Froome holds off Dumoulin and set to win race – as it happened
Froome speaks! “I felt very in control. I felt everyone had such a hard day yesterday that nobody really had the legs to go anywhere. This Giro has been brutal, when someone tends to have a bad day here it’s not just 30 seconds or a minute, it’s 10-15 minutes. You could see today Pinot was in trouble and Astana turned the screw, so for us it was just to keep an eye on Tom. I sprinted to the finish just to keep in front of everything.”
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helps fund it, our future would be much more secure. For as little as £1, you can support the Guardian – and it only takes a minute. Make a contribution. - Guardian HQ The final mountain stage of the Giro d’Italia saw Mikel Nieve win on his birthday and Chris Froome increase his overall lead ahead of Sunday’s final, processional stage into Rome. Barring an accident, Froome will win his first Giro, to add to his four Tour de France titles and one Vuelta a Espana. Richard Moore and Daniel Friebe report from the ski resort that sits almost at the foot of the Matterhorn, though the podcast begins from Susa, where the 20th stage started. There, we hear reaction from Alex Dowsett, George Bennett and others to Froome’s extraordinary performance on Friday, when an 80km solo break turned the Giro on its head. There are also interviews with Simon Yates, whose dreams of winning were ended so cruelly the previous day, his teammate Svein Tuft and sports director Matt White. And there is reaction from Domenico Pozzovivo and Sebastien Reichenbach, whose team leader Thibaut Pinot suffered his own woes on Saturday.
What a day for Froome and for British cycling, even if we shouldn’t count every single chicken, because tomorrow must still be seen out and there could yet, in theory, be a strange localised typhoon over his bike in Rome. He added a handful of seconds to his lead over Dumoulin, who had a go late on but just couldn’t put a concerted attack together and ended up effectively waving the white flag in the final few kilometres. A good effort from Dumoulin but it never, if we are really honest, seemed on. Chris Froome is set for a historic Giro d'Italia victory after he held off late attacks from nearest rival Tom Dumoulin on the penultimate stage into Cervinia. The Team Sky rider, 33, extended his advantage over the Dutchman to 46 seconds with Sunday's final stage in Rome traditionally a procession. Froome will be the first British man to win the Giro in its 101-year history. And he will hold all three Grand Tours simultaneously after wins last year at the Tour de France and Vuelta a Espana. Barring any incident or accident on Sunday, the four-time Tour de France winner will be the seventh man to complete the set of Grand Tours. Spain's Mikel Nieve won the stage on his 34th birthday, attacking with 32km to go in the mountains to finish two minutes 17 seconds clear of Dutchman Robert Gesink.
“The comparison with Landis is innaccurate and unfair to Froome,” writes Joss Pinches. “Landis made his wunder-ride after a disastrous day where he lost a huge chunk of time, Froome was showing signs of strength the day before and had made the definitive attack which dropped Yates (sob); Landis won by 10 minutes, Froome by a little over three, a large part of which was on the descent, so yeah, they were both long-range and both propelled the protagonists into the lead, but beyond those superficialities the comparison doesn’t hold up to scrutiny.”It is a remarkable turnaround for Froome, who had been barely in contention a few days ago after an injury-hit first two weeks. He set up victory with Friday's stunning stage 19 win that saw him jump from fourth to take the pink jersey. He had a 40-second lead over reigning champion Dumoulin going into stage 20, a 214km ride from Susa to Cervinia in the Alps in northern Italy, Both riders had been content to sit in the peloton with Froome protected by his team-mates. But with the pink jersey at stake, Dumoulin made his first attack 6km out on the last of three category one climbs. Froome responded immediately, going on the attack himself to rein
Dumoulin back in. It became a cat-and-mouse fight between the pair with Froome's legs showing no ill-effects from Friday's heroics. Dumoulin cracked with 3km remaining as his challenge faded and Froome finished with a sprint, six seconds ahead of his rival to retain the maglia rosa in the shadow of the Matterhorn. "I felt in control," said Froome, who would join Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault in holding all three Grand Tours at the same time. "Everyone had such a hard day yesterday, no-one had the extra legs to go anywhere." Praising the support from his team, Froome added: "It was amazing to able to repay them after three weeks of hard work, they believed in me." Dumoulin said: "I tried everything I could and Froome was a better rider. I was just tired today and wasn't sure I'd have the legs to try, but I would always have regretted it if I hadn't." France's Thibaut Pinot blew a chance for a place on the podium. Having been in third place at the start of Saturday's stage, he was left behind on the second climb up Col de St-Pantaleon. Astana's Miguel Angel Lopez took advantage as he took third place overall, four minutes 57 seconds behind Froome.
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helps fund it, our future would be much more secure. For as little as £1, you can support the Guardian – and it only takes a minute. Make a contribution. - Guardian HQ The final mountain stage of the Giro d’Italia saw Mikel Nieve win on his birthday and Chris Froome increase his overall lead ahead of Sunday’s final, processional stage into Rome. Barring an accident, Froome will win his first Giro, to add to his four Tour de France titles and one Vuelta a Espana. Richard Moore and Daniel Friebe report from the ski resort that sits almost at the foot of the Matterhorn, though the podcast begins from Susa, where the 20th stage started. There, we hear reaction from Alex Dowsett, George Bennett and others to Froome’s extraordinary performance on Friday, when an 80km solo break turned the Giro on its head. There are also interviews with Simon Yates, whose dreams of winning were ended so cruelly the previous day, his teammate Svein Tuft and sports director Matt White. And there is reaction from Domenico Pozzovivo and Sebastien Reichenbach, whose team leader Thibaut Pinot suffered his own woes on Saturday.
What a day for Froome and for British cycling, even if we shouldn’t count every single chicken, because tomorrow must still be seen out and there could yet, in theory, be a strange localised typhoon over his bike in Rome. He added a handful of seconds to his lead over Dumoulin, who had a go late on but just couldn’t put a concerted attack together and ended up effectively waving the white flag in the final few kilometres. A good effort from Dumoulin but it never, if we are really honest, seemed on. Chris Froome is set for a historic Giro d'Italia victory after he held off late attacks from nearest rival Tom Dumoulin on the penultimate stage into Cervinia. The Team Sky rider, 33, extended his advantage over the Dutchman to 46 seconds with Sunday's final stage in Rome traditionally a procession. Froome will be the first British man to win the Giro in its 101-year history. And he will hold all three Grand Tours simultaneously after wins last year at the Tour de France and Vuelta a Espana. Barring any incident or accident on Sunday, the four-time Tour de France winner will be the seventh man to complete the set of Grand Tours. Spain's Mikel Nieve won the stage on his 34th birthday, attacking with 32km to go in the mountains to finish two minutes 17 seconds clear of Dutchman Robert Gesink.
“The comparison with Landis is innaccurate and unfair to Froome,” writes Joss Pinches. “Landis made his wunder-ride after a disastrous day where he lost a huge chunk of time, Froome was showing signs of strength the day before and had made the definitive attack which dropped Yates (sob); Landis won by 10 minutes, Froome by a little over three, a large part of which was on the descent, so yeah, they were both long-range and both propelled the protagonists into the lead, but beyond those superficialities the comparison doesn’t hold up to scrutiny.”It is a remarkable turnaround for Froome, who had been barely in contention a few days ago after an injury-hit first two weeks. He set up victory with Friday's stunning stage 19 win that saw him jump from fourth to take the pink jersey. He had a 40-second lead over reigning champion Dumoulin going into stage 20, a 214km ride from Susa to Cervinia in the Alps in northern Italy, Both riders had been content to sit in the peloton with Froome protected by his team-mates. But with the pink jersey at stake, Dumoulin made his first attack 6km out on the last of three category one climbs. Froome responded immediately, going on the attack himself to rein
Dumoulin back in. It became a cat-and-mouse fight between the pair with Froome's legs showing no ill-effects from Friday's heroics. Dumoulin cracked with 3km remaining as his challenge faded and Froome finished with a sprint, six seconds ahead of his rival to retain the maglia rosa in the shadow of the Matterhorn. "I felt in control," said Froome, who would join Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault in holding all three Grand Tours at the same time. "Everyone had such a hard day yesterday, no-one had the extra legs to go anywhere." Praising the support from his team, Froome added: "It was amazing to able to repay them after three weeks of hard work, they believed in me." Dumoulin said: "I tried everything I could and Froome was a better rider. I was just tired today and wasn't sure I'd have the legs to try, but I would always have regretted it if I hadn't." France's Thibaut Pinot blew a chance for a place on the podium. Having been in third place at the start of Saturday's stage, he was left behind on the second climb up Col de St-Pantaleon. Astana's Miguel Angel Lopez took advantage as he took third place overall, four minutes 57 seconds behind Froome.
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