Pogacar secures Giro d'Italia victory on debut
Tadej Pogacar won the Giro d'Italia on his debut by completing a processional final stage through Rome on Sunday.
The Slovenian, who has two Tour de France victories, won six stages of the 21 in a dominant performance.
He finished nine minutes 56 seconds ahead of second placed Daniel Martinez of Colombia in the overall standings, with Britain's Geraint Thomas 10 minutes 24 seconds behind the winner in third.
Pogacar had been in the leader's pink jersey since victory on stage two and won by the biggest overall margin since 1965.
"I am speechless, it's hard to describe this moment, it's amazing," said the 25-year-old.
"A lot of nice memories for sure, in a while I will see which one was the best moment but I think in general it was a really beautiful Giro."
The final stage of 125km in Rome produced a frantic finish in which Tim Merlier beat Jonathan Milan, who had suffered a puncture with nine kilometres to go, in a sprint finish to claim a third stage win of the race.
Pogacar will now bid to become the first rider since Marco Pantani in 1998 to win both the Giro and Tour de France, which starts on 29 June, in the same season.
Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard has won the last two editions of the Tour de France but his level of fitness is unclear following a crash in the Itzulia Basque Country race in April.
Thomas looking forward to Tour de France
Thomas became only the second rider in Giro history aged 38 or over to finish on the podium.
The former Tour de France winner has said this year’s Giro d’Italia might be his final Grand Tour as a team leader at Ineos Grenadiers.
"I've really enjoyed it, it's been a good group of guys," the Welshman, who will retire at the end of next season, told Eurosport.
"It's actually gone really fast but it seems like a lifetime ago that we started in Torino. It's been great.
"I'm looking forward to that [Tour de France]. It's a big challenge. Freshen up, stay off the beer, go altitude camp and then go to the Tour and help the boys. We've got a great young team."
Stage 21 result
1. Tim Merlier (Bel/Soudal Quick-Step) 2hrs 51mins 50secs
2. Jonathan Milan (Ita/Lidl-Trek) Same time
3. Kaden Groves (Aus/Alpecin-Deceuninck) Same time
4. Fernando Gaviria (Col/Movistar) Same time
5. Tim van Dijke (Ned/Team Visma) Same time
6. Stanislaw Aniolkowski (Pol/Confidis) Same time
7. Alberto Dainese (Ita/Tudor Pro Cycling Team) Same time
8. Giovanni Lonardi (Ita/Polti-Kometa) Same time
9. Caleb Ewan (Aus/Team Jayco AlUla) Same time
10. Donavan Grondin (Fra/Arkea-B&B Hotels) Same time
General classification
1. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) 79 hrs 14mins 03secs
2. Daniel Martinez (Col/Bora-hansgrohe) +9:56
3. Geraint Thomas (GB/Ineos Grenadiers) +10:24
4. Ben O'Connor (Aus/Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team) +12:07
5. Antonio Tiberi (Ita/Bahrain Victorious) +12:49
6. Thymen Arensman (Ned/Ineos Grenadiers) +14:31
7. Einer Rubio (Col/Movistar) +15:52
8. Jan Hirt (Cze/Soudal Quick-Step) +18:05
9. Romain Bardet (Fra/Team DSM-Firmenich Post NL) +20:32
10. Michael Storer (Aus/Tudor) +21:11
