Giro d'Italia: Nairo Quintana seals overall victory in Trieste

Image 1 of 106

After the two wins clinched by Marcel Kittel when the Giro was still in Ireland, Luka Mezgec gave Giant-Shimano a third success when he swept through on the right-hand barriers to claim a frantically fast sprint as the corsa rosa finished in Trieste. Racing just a handful of kilometres from home soil in Slovenia, Mezgec was boxed in 500 metres from the line, but saw a gap open up to his right and surged through it to leave Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek Factory Racing) in second and Garmin-Sharp's Tyler Farrar in third.

"It was a really hectic sprint," said Mezgec. "With 500 metres to go I had four guys around me, but I had a bit of luck and managed to find my way through to the front. It’s a great win for me as this is about as close as you can get to Slovenia. I knew there would probably be a lot of Slovenians at the finish and that would put me under a lot of pressure, but I knew I could handle it.

"It couldn't get any better than this. I've got lots of friends here. I'm the happiest man in the world today," Mezgec continued. "It was a great three weeks for Giant-Shimano. I'm really proud to be part of the Giro and I'm happy for the team."

Just behind the first three riders was points champion Nacer Bouhanni, who had been targeting a fourth stage win. The FDJ.fr rider looked slightly off the pace after the recent days in the mountains.

He failed to get on the wheel of his lead-out, Sébastien Chavanel, who produced a tremendous burst from a kilometre out only to find he had Lampre's Roberto Ferrari rather than Bouhanni on his wheel. However, fourth place for Bouhanni was more than enough to ensure he wrapped up the points title.

Further back in the pack, Nairo Quintana was already celebrating becoming the first Colombian winner of the Giro. With his parents and his baby daughter Mariana at the finish, Quintana kept up towards the front of the bunch until he was well inside the final 3km, then eased off a tad to savour his success with his teammates.

Carefully holding Mariana on the podium, Quintana beamed as he and hundreds of Colombian fans in the crowd sang their national anthem. "Now I've finally crossed the finish line, I'm really happy to have won the Giro d'Italia and to have made history as the first Colombian winner of the race," Quintana said. "I want to thank my teammates, who were amazing, and my family who are here to celebrate with me."

After the traditional laid back start to the final stage of a Grand Tour, the racing got serious when the peloton reached Trieste for nine laps around a seven-kilometre circuit. Orica-GreenEdge's Svein Tuft was the first rider to get clear and was joined on the attack by Lotto-Belisol's Lars Bak.

These two powerful rouleurs established a lead of 45 seconds with 37km left, but never stood a chance of staying clear. Sky, Cannondale, Movistar and Trek were all keen to chase behind the two leaders. Bak and Tuft were briefly joined by Stefano Pirazzi (Bardiani), Valerio Agnoli (Astana) and Carlos Quintero (Colombia), but the quintet was reeled in soon after the start of the penultimate lap.

Pirazzi's team-mate Francesco Bongiorno, so unfortunate yesterday on the Zoncolan, made a couple of attempts to get clear, but the speed and grip of the sprinters’ teams was far too strong. After going close a number of times since Kittel's departure, it was finally set to be Mezgec's day. 

Full Results