Tom Pidcock has the stage victory on the final day of the under-23 Giro d’Italia, and secured the overall win in the process.
The Trinity Racing rider has been the stand-out performer in the prestigious race for young riders, taking three stage victories and comfortably winning the pink jersey.
After taking his first win of the race on stage four from Bonferraro di Sorgà to Bolca and moving into the race lead, the 21-year-old was able to extend his lead on a tough climbing day on stage seven with another win.
Heading into the final day of racing, Pidcock had a 1-28 advantage over his nearest rival Kevin Colleoni (Biesse Arvedi), but a huge day of climbing awaited on stage eight.
The 120.9km-long stage started and finished in Aprica and featured four categorised climbs, including the dreaded Passo del Mortirolo, which crested 88km into the stage.
As the race began to kick in, the eight leading riders on general classification were all still present in Pidcock’s group, but as the pace ramped up that was whittled down to seven.
After 70km of racing, there was a lone leader up the road with Pidcock and Colleoni just 28 seconds behind when Colleoni started to struggle.
Inside 30km and Pidcock had bridged across to the leader and still had a 26-second advantage over the nearest chaser.
With 5km left to the line Pidcock and his companion Samuele Zoccarato (Team Colpack Ballan) were still 50 seconds ahead and the pair came to the line together, but it was Pidcock who secured the stage victory and with it the overall classification.
Pidcock has been continuing his development as a multi-discipline rider rider in 2020, securing a podium finish in the cyclocross World Cup round in Switzerland, then moving onto the mountainbike after the coronavirus lockdown.
He has now returned to the road and split his efforts in the European Championships, finishing fourth in the under-23 time trial in Plouay but then stepping up the elite men’s squad for the road race.
The Giro Ciclistico d’Italia, also known as the Baby Giro, is a prestigious race for male under-23 riders with a list of winners who have gone on to successful WorldTour careers.
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Last year’s edition was won by UAE Team Emirates rider Andrea Camilo Ardila, while previous editions have been won by Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana), Pavel Sivakov (Ineos Grenadiers) and Joe Dombrowski (UAE Team Emirates).
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