Cycling race
Cycling race
The 2020 Giro d'Italia was a road cycling stage race that took place between 3 and 25 October, after initially being postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] It was originally to have taken place from 9 to 31 May 2020, as the 103rd edition of the Giro d'Italia, a three-week Grand Tour. The start of the 2020 Giro (known as the Grande Partenza) had been planned to take place in Budapest, Hungary, which would have been the 14th time the Giro has started outside Italy,[2] and the first time a Grand Tour has visited Hungary.[3]
The event was jeopardised by the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy,[4] and in March 2020 it was postponed, as other early season races in Italy had been.[5] When the government of Hungary announced they would not allow the Grande Partenza to take place, RCS Sport decided they would postpone the race to a later to-be-determined date.[6] On 15 April, UCI announced that both Giro and Vuelta would take place in autumn after the 2020 UCI Road World Championships.[7] On 5 May, UCI announced that the Giro would take place between 3 and 25 October, overlapping with the 2020 Vuelta a España .[1]
The race was won by Tao Geoghegan Hart of Great Britain and Ineos Grenadiers, who finished 39 seconds ahead of Australia's Jai Hindley, having taken over leadership of his team after pre-race favourite and teammate Geraint Thomas had crashed out at an early stage. Geoghehan Hart also won the young riders' jersey, and became the first rider in Giro history to win the pink jersey outright on the final stage, having never worn it during the race – he entered the decisive final day time-trial level on time, but second on countback, to Hindley. The mountains jersey as won by Ruben Guerreiro and the sprinters' prize went to Simon Pellaud.[8]
Teams
Twenty-two teams participated in the 2020 Giro d'Italia. All nineteen UCI WorldTeams are entitled, and obliged, to enter the race. Additionally, three second-tier UCI ProTeams were invited to participate in the event. The teams were announced on 16 January 2020.[9] On 13 October 2020, ahead of the start of stage 10, Mitchelton-Scott and Jumbo-Visma withdrew all their remaining riders from the race following positive COVID-19 tests.[10]
The teams participating in the race were:
UCI WorldTeams
UCI ProTeams
Pre-race favourites
Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers), the 2018 Tour de France champion, was considered the pre-race favourite. Simon Yates (Mitchelton–Scott) was seen as one of his main challengers after beating Thomas in the lead-up race Tirreno–Adriatico. Steven Kruijswijk (Team Jumbo–Visma), a previous race leader in 2016, was another top contender, as was the only past champion in the field – two-time winner Vincenzo Nibali (Trek–Segafredo). Astana's trio of Jakob Fuglsang, Miguel Ángel López and Aleksandr Vlasov were also seen as top contenders. Other riders considered as contenders included Rafał Majka (Bora–Hansgrohe) and Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb). Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck–Quick-Step) was earlier considered a favourite but did not enter the race due to injuries sustained in Il Lombardia.
Riders believed to be the main contenders for victories on the sprint stages were Arnaud Démare (Groupama–FDJ), Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates), Peter Sagan (Bora–Hansgrohe), Elia Viviani (Cofidis) and Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb).[11][12]
Route and stages
Classification leadership
- On stage 2, João Almeida, who was second in the points classification, wore the cyclamen jersey, because first placed Filippo Ganna wore the pink jersey as the leader of the general classification. Because Ganna and Almeida were also the first two riders in the young rider classification, Mikkel Bjerg, who was third in the young rider classification, wore the white jersey.
- On stage 3, João Almeida, who was second in the young rider classification, wore the white jersey, because first placed Filippo Ganna wore the pink jersey as the leader of the general classification.
- On stages 4–10, Harm Vanhoucke, who was second in the young rider classification, wore the white jersey, because first placed João Almeida wore the pink jersey as the leader of the general classification. On stages 11–14 and 16–18, Jai Hindley wore the white jersey for the same reason, as did Brandon McNulty on stage 15.
- On stage 21, Tao Geoghegan Hart, who was second in the young rider classification, wore the white jersey, because first placed Jai Hindley wore the pink jersey as the leader of the general classification.
Final classification standings
General classification
Young rider classification
Intermediate sprint classification
Combativity classification
Notes
- ^ a b Distance originally was 3,497.9 km.
- ^ Distance originally was 253 km, then it was rerouted to 258 km. Before the start of the stage, the distance was shortened to 124.5 km after riders were protesting against the long distance in bad weather conditions.[13][14]
- ^ Distance originally was 198 km. Due to French COVID-19 rules, the Giro was not allowed to enter France.[15]
References
- ^ a b Farrand, Stephen (5 May 2020). "UCI reveal new men's and women's post-COVID-19 race calendar". Cycling News. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
- ^ "Giro d'Italia to start in Budapest in 2020". Cycling News. 15 April 2019. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
- ^ "Giro d'Italia to start in Budapest in 2020". Cycling Weekly. 15 April 2019. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
- ^ "Milan-San Remo, Tirreno-Adriatico and Giro d'Italia all under threat after Italian coronavirus outbreak". Cycling Weekly. 24 February 2020. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
- ^ "Milan San Remo and Tirreno-Adriatico have been postponed". Cycling Weekly. 6 March 2020.
- ^ "CYCLING NEWS: FIRST THREE STAGES OF GIRO D'ITALIA IN HUNGARY CANCELLED DUE TO CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC". Eurosport. 13 March 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
- ^ "Tour de France saved by 29 August shift as Grand Tours jostle for space". The Guardian. 15 April 2020. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
- ^ "Giro d'Italia: Tao Geoghegan Hart wins first Grand Tour". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
- ^ "2020 UCI WorldTour races Wild Cards: RCS Sport choices". RCS Sport. Archived from the original on 22 February 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
- ^ "Giro d'Italia: Mitchelton-Scott & Jumbo-Visma withdraw after positive Covid results". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
- ^ de Neef, Matt (1 October 2020). "Preview: Your guide to the 2020 Giro d'Italia contenders, sprinters and more". Cyclingtips. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
- ^ Farrand, Stephen (29 September 2020). "Giro d'Italia 2020 – Preview". Cyclingnews. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
- ^ Bennett, Tom (23 October 2020). "Giro D'Italia 2020 - Riders to take bus for first 100km of Giro stage after peloton threatens strike". www.eurosport.com. Eurosport. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
- ^ Ostanek, Daniel (23 October 2020). "Giro d'Italia stage 19 shortened to 124.5km after rider protest". www.cyclingnews.com. Cyclingnews. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
- ^ "Giro d'Italia: French COVID-19 rules mean Agnello and Izoard cut from stage 20". www.cyclingnews.com. CyclingNews. 21 October 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Official classifications of Giro d'Italia 2020". Giro d'Italia. RCS Sport. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
External links
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