Bernal sits seventh after valiant ride

Egan Bernal will ride into Rome in seventh place overall at the Giro d'Italia following a gusty effort on the final day of general classification racing.

The Colombian battled hard to limit his losses on the infamous Finestre climb, setting his own tempo following a barrage of attacks amongst the GC contenders.

Digging deep to only lose one place on the way to the finish in Sestriere, Bernal will seal a brilliant top-10 finish if he crosses the line safely on Sunday. The result sees the INEOS Grenadiers rider return to the GC battle in Grand Tours following his life-threatening accident just over three years ago.

The race's maglia rosa battle was turned on its head on the final GC day, with Simon Yates (Visma | Lease a Bike) mounting a daring long-range attack to move into the lead by 3:56. Reminiscent of the same attack from Chris Froome in 2018, Yates finished third on the stage, with breakaway member Chris Harper (Jayco AlUla) taking the win.

Kim Heiduk was also present in the move, getting up the road early before the group ultimately swelled to 32 riders.

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Egan Bernal: “I was fine, but I was also aware than the rest of the riders were quite strong. Once in the Finestre climb, I set my own pace and I kept it all the way to the finish.

“It has been a beautiful, special Giro for me. It has been quite hard, yet I’ve enjoyed it a lot, both the race and the pleasure of riding my bike. Even when I was feeling empty today, I was thinking I wanted to remember every pedal stroke. Regardless of my final position in the standings, being able to play for the GC has felt like a dream.”