Sam Bennett takes a huge win; beating Elia Viviani after QuickStep thought it had the final Giro stage won. Bennett leaves Italy with three stage victories; an incredible tally.
Having come of age at this Giro already, Sam Bennett made it three stage wins on the final day in Rome.
While QuickStep did all it could to ensure Elia Viviani would take another win, Bennett was simply too fast.
In the end he stormed home for this third win, just ahead of Viviani. Jean Pierre Drucker (BMC Racing) rounded out the podium on the day.
Bora-hansgrohe’s Bennett came to this race looking for a breakthrough; a Grand Tour stage win.
He leaves Italy with three. But the way he climbed in this race shows what Irish fans have always known, that he is much more than a sprinter.
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His win into Imola, in the rain and after some late climbing, saw him demolish the final sprint. It was the kind of victory that proves he can count himself in for Milan-Sanremo.
And having broken his Grand Tour duck over the last three weeks, the next phase of his career should be very interesting.
"He ends the Giro with another huge win!"@Sammmy_Be takes the final stage victory in Rome ? #Giro101 pic.twitter.com/853hCgx6Mh
— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) May 27, 2018
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Chris Froome (Team Sky) finished the Giro with overall victory today; the stage being neutralised for the general classification after three laps playing into his hands.
He, like most of the general classification men, rolled home some 16 minutes down, though the time loss was meaningless.
Froome's victory was a controversial one. He struggled for much of the race but came good with an 80km solo breakaway in the final week.
That saw him seize the maglia rosa from Simon Yates; the Mitchelton Scott man falling apart in the difficult third week of the race.
And with Froome currently facing a doping process over his adverse test results for asthma drug salbutamol on last year's Vuelta, this is a win achieved under a cloud.
Today in Rome Sam Bennett took the victory after a breakaway was caught late. And those escapees included Irish road race champion Ryan Mullen of Trek-Segafredo.
With the stage unfolding over ten laps of an 11.5km circuit in Rome, Mullen attacked with four others on the final lap.
With him were Tony Martin (Katusha-Alpecin), Danny Van Poppel (LottoNL-Jumbo), Florian Sénéchal (Quick Step Floors) and Mattia Cattaneo (Androni-Sidermec).
And while they were caught it was great to see Mullen wearing the Irish jersey finishing his first Grand Tour with a flourish.
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