Tom Dumoulin wins the Giro d'Italia

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Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) put in a nearly perfect time trial to win the 100th Giro d'Italia. He finished second on Sunday's 21st and final stage to claim the overall victory. Nairo Quintana (Movistar) was able to rescue second place in the general classification, 31 seconds down, with Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain Merida) third at 40 seconds. FDJ's Thibaut Pinot, who began the day in third on GC, dropped off the final podium to finish in fourth place overall.

It was a double victory for the Netherlands, as Jos van Emden (LottoNL-Jumbo) took the stage win. He put in an early good time of 33:08 on the 29.3km course into Milan, finishing 15 seconds ahead of Dumoulin's time. BMC's Manuel Quinziato, retiring at the end of the year, was third at 27 seconds.

"It's great, it's really crazy," Dumoulin said as he came to terms with the overall win, which marked his first time finishing on a Grand Tour podium, let alone the top step. "I cannot describe it with words. It's incredible. It was such a nerve-wracking day. I was super nervous from the beginning and I needed to stay calm but I almost couldn't. I had good legs and I just went for it."

Giuseppe Fonzi (Willier Triestina) was the first off under the cheerful sun at the Monza race track. For the next few hours, rider followed rider at one-minute intervals, with many of them concerned only with making it to the finish line within the time limits, and looking forward to a well-deserved rest and celebration for having survived the Giro until the end.

The early lead changed hands from Marcin Bialablocki (CCC) to Quinziato, riding his last Giro ever. The Italian wouldn't stay in the lead for long, however, as van Emden bumped him off the hot seat with a blistering time of just over 33 minutes. The Dutchman would not relinquish control of hot seat for the rest of the day. Only Dumoulin came close to his compatriot's time.

Former world champion Vasil Kiryienka (Sky) put in a strong showing, but the course was too flat for the Belarusian and he crossed the line as third, 31 seconds slower than van Emden, ultimately bumped to fourth by Dumoulni.

Midway through the stage, Adam Hansen (Lotto Soudal) finished with a rather leisurely 37:34 to wrap up his 17th consecutive Grand Tour.

Excitement picked up as those in the GC top 10 took to the road. Dumoulin set his first mark at the 8.8km time check, coming in second at only two seconds down on van Emden. Pinot was surprisingly slow there, 26 seconds down. Nibali was 19 seconds back, and Quintana 31 seconds.

Dumoulin repeated it at the second time check, still two seconds behind van Emden. Pinot was continuing to lose time, Nibali was 43 seconds down and Quintana at 1:08, putting Dumoulin provisionally into pink.

One by one the top 10 came across the line. Jungels topped rival Yates by a significant amount to wrap up the young riders jersey. The other GC riders did their best after an exhausting three weeks but were unable to match time trial specialist Dumoulin.

"I didn't know any time gaps, because I just wanted to focus on my own TT. Then I spoke to my sports director, and he told me not to take risks anymore in the corners. He said that already at halfway, and then in the last kilometres he told me to be really safe," Dumoulin said. "When I crossed the line, everybody told me, 'You've won, you've won.' But then I looked at the TV and the gap was only three seconds, and I was so angry with everyone. 'How can you say I've won it?' And I'd already celebrated too ... But eventually it all came good."

After finishing with the second best time on the stage, the Dutchman refused to believe he had won while the others were still out on the road. Even as Quintana struggled along, Dumoulin stared intently and worriedly at the television. He finally realized his victory before the Colombian crossed the finish line. As Dumoulin celebrated his overall victory, his compatriot van Emden sobbed in happiness and relief at claiming his first career Grand Tour stage win.

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