Damiano Caruso has won Giro d'Italia stage 20. Bernal keeps the Maglia Rosa

Damiano Caruso has won Giro d'Italia stage 20!

Damiano Caruso made the last mountain stage an epic one as he reacted along with his teammate Pello Bilbao to an offensive by a DSM team at the service of Romain Bardet on the Passo San Bernardino, the first of three gruelling Alpine climbs today. Caruso soloed to victory with 2km to go and fended off the return of Egan Bernal who had kept the situation under control from behind with less than a minute deficit thanks to the great help of his compatriot and teammate Dani Martinez. Bernal and Martinez crossed the line in second and third place respectively. Bernal will start the closing time trial to Milan with an advantage of 1’59’’ over Caruso and 3’23’’ over Yates.

Tomorrow the Senago – Milano Tissot ITT, 30.3 km, takes place. The first rider to start will be Riccardo Minali at 13:45. The last one, the Maglia Rosa Egan Bernal will start at 16:37.

STAGE RESULTS

1 – Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) – 164km in 4h27’53”, average speed 36.732 km/h

2 – Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) at 24”

3 – Daniel Felipe Martinez (Ineos Grenadiers) at 35”

4 – Romain Bardet (Team DSM) s.t.

5 – João Almeida (Deceuninck – Quick-Step) at 41″

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

1 – Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers)

2 – Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) at 1’59”

3 – Simon Yates (Team BikeExchange) at 3’23”

4 – Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana – Premier Tech) at 7’07”

5 – Romain Bardet (Team DSM) at 7’48”

JERSEYS

Maglia Rosa (pink), general classification leader, sponsored by Enel – Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers)

Maglia Ciclamino (cyclamen), sprinter classification leader, sponsored by Segafredo Zanetti – Peter Sagan (Bora – Hansgrohe)

Maglia Azzurra (blue), King of the Mountains classification leader, sponsored by Banca Mediolanum – Geoffrey Bouchard (AG2R Citroen Team)

Maglia Bianca (white), young rider general classification leader, sponsored by Intimissimi Uomo – Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers), worn by Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana – Premier Tech)

Data collected by Velon’s devices on the riders’ bikes tells the story of key moments of the stage. A graphic with today’s data can be found here.

Quotes from Damiano Caruso and Egan Bernal

First win at the Giro d’Italia for Damiano Caruso who has won just two pro races previously: Stage 5 of the Settimana Coppi e Bartali in 2013 and the Circuito de Getxo last year.

Caruso’s first Giro was in 2012 with Liquigas. The year after he made it to the top of a stage’s results for the first time: 3rd place in the ITT to Polsa behind Vincenzo Nibali and Samuel Sanchez.

The last Frenchman to have won the KOM competition at the Giro d’Italia before Geoffrey Bouchard was Laurent Fignon in 1984.

Speaking at the press conference, the stage winner Damiano Caruso said: “My move wasn’t planned at all. Sometimes the best things happen by coincidence. A bit of luck is needed as well and in this case, there was a bit of intelligence too. We reacted after DSM’s attack and it was a winning choice. I raced to win because in this profession, you have to try and win. Like Alberto Bettiol, I wanted to win as a tribute to our late agent Mauro Battaglini. I also dedicate this victory to my family, my wife and my kids. Tomorrow I’ll give it all from the recon to the race. I won’t make any calculations. It’ll be a triumphant closing day.”

Maglia Rosa Egan Bernal said: “I went through the most challenging moment of my Giro so far on the San Bernardino Pass when Damiano Caruso made his move. I’m happy for him. He came here as a super domestique and he’s racing as a leader for the podium. He has ridden a perfect Giro so far. I hope to be with him on the podium tomorrow but with myself in first place and him second. It’s a 30km time trial so it’s certainly not my specialty. It doesn’t matter if I win by two minutes or one second. The most important thing is to have my name on the trophy.”