Stage 21

The road

At the start

Nibali's last two hundred kilometres

Vincenzo Nibali rides to Brescia with 4:43 on Rigoberto Urán and 5:52 on Cadel Evans, and the Giro is already his. He also leads the points classification, by eleven, over a Mark Cavendish who has won four stages and would very much like the red jersey as well. Two hundred kilometres, then seven laps of a tight, twisting circuit in the city.

How it was won

1. 121 km to go

   Cavendish sprints three times for one prize

   Eleven points behind Nibali in the points classification this morning, Cavendish takes eight at the first sprint and cuts it to three. Then nobody can say which lap the second sprint falls on. He wins the line once, then again, then a third time before it is finally confirmed — and the red jersey is his.

2. 2At the line

   Brescia, and pink all the way home

   Modolo opens too early into a headwind, and Cavendish, who knows exactly what a headwind does, waits and then goes past him: a fifth stage of this Giro. Behind him Vincenzo Nibali rolls in safely in the bunch, his Astana team in matching pink, and wins his home Grand Tour.

The result