Stage 20

The road

At the start

Twenty-six seconds, and Monte Lussari

The whole Giro comes down to 18.6 kilometres. Geraint Thomas leads Primož Roglič by 26 seconds and João Almeida by 59; the road is flat for eleven kilometres and then rears up Monte Lussari, on the Slovenian border, where Roglič has a home crowd and a climb he walked in the winter to learn. 'It's not Planche des Belles Filles,' Jay Vine said before this Giro. 'It's worse.'

How it was won

1. 110 km to go

   First time check

   Thomas is only two seconds down at the first split, the maglia rosa he holds by 26 seconds seemingly safe as the riders reach the foot of Monte Lussari.

2. 25 km to go

   Monte Lussari

   On the ultra-steep seven-kilometre climb, riding special low gearing and egged on by thousands of Slovenian fans, Roglič opens around 15 seconds by halfway.

3. 32 km to go

   The chain drop

   Disaster nearly strikes: Roglič's chain jumps off in the closing kilometres, a horrible echo of his 2020 Tour collapse — but this time he keeps pedalling and stays on his bike.

4. 4At the line

   Summit of Monte Lussari

   Roglič wins the time trial by 40 seconds and rips the pink jersey from Thomas on the penultimate day, all but sealing his first Giro.

The result