Brandon the fighter

The first move came from Frigo, immediately followed by McNulty and then by Healy, who had initially stayed on Rubio’s wheel, with whom he had been battling for points on the Valico di Valcava KOM. Having realised that Rubio was not on top of his game, the Irishman was able to ease himself back onto Frigo and McNulty, who then attacked with just over 3 km to go. At that point, it really looked like a done deal for Healy, as no one actually had the strength to respond to the Irishman, the great revelation of this 2023.

However, in sight of the KOM, the powerful American came back to his senses, pulled away from Frigo, and launched himself in pursuit of the unbridled elf from Ireland, quickly recovering 20 seconds and arriving at the gates of Bergamo side by side with him. The duo once again became a trio when the stoic Frigo managed to close the gap, and together they approached Via della Boccola towards the upper part of Bergamo. Booom! Here came another hit from Healy, but McNulty did not give him an inch. In the final kilometre, Frigo – who had lost contact again – came back on and tried to outfox them both, but Healy closed in, only to be outsprinted by McNulty in the very last metres. This is the American’s first success at the Giro and in a Grand Tour. Bergamo bows to this big strong boy from Arizona.