2015 Giro d’Italia post-race analysis
The 98th Giro d’Italia was a thrilling three-weeks of intrigue, drama, controversy and triumph. Alberto Contador may have been in pink for 16-days and his victory never in doubt, but there were plenty of spoils for other riders, four of whom won two stages. Astana took five stage wins, Lampre four, Sky, BMC and Orica-GreenEdge two.
Let’s take a look at what else happened in the Giro.
First, here’s the top-ten on GC and the jerseys.
2015 Giro d’Italia Final GC
1) Alberto Contador (Spain/Tinkoff-Saxo) 88:22:25
2) Fabio Aru (Italy/Astana) +1:53
3) Mikel Landa (Spain/Astana) +3:05
4) Andrey Amador (Costa Rica/Movistar) +8:10
5) Ryder Hesjedal (Canada/Cannondale-Garmin) +9:52
6) Leopold König (Czech Republic/Sky) +10:41
7) Steven Kruijswijk (The Netherlands/LottoNL-Jumbo) +10:53
8) Damiano Caruso (Italy/BMC) +12:08
9) Alexandre Geniez (France/FDJ) +15:51
10) Yuri Trofimov (Russia/Katusha) +16:14
Mountains jersey: Giovanni Visconti (Italy/Movistar)
Points jersey: Giacomo Nizzolo (Italy/Trek)
Young riders jersey: Fabio Aru (Italy/Astana)
Team competition: Astana
Two Pinks For Alberto: The winner cracked on the last mountains day and lost over two minutes of his lead, but this shouldn’t detract from a solid win. Bertie overcame a shoulder injury to hold aloft his seventh Grand Tour trophy. His third place in the long time trial might have given Alberto a solid foundation for victory, but his ascent of Mortirolo and the Mount Olongo vendetta move were masterstrokes.
Chris Froome, Vincenzo Nibali and Nairo Quintana are all on notice as Contador’s desire to win the first Giro/Tour de France double in 17-years seems quite possible.
Aru’s resurrection: The final week of the Giro started off with despair for Aru as he looked defeated following mountainous Stage 16. Astana and Katusha’s ambush of Contador backfired when Alberto raced angry. However, Aru capped the mountain stages with two consecutive wins, regained 2nd place from his teammate Landa and took back half the time to Contador.
Aru has won five stages in his last three Grand Tours while coming 3rd, 5th and 2nd. Someday he’ll win one, but he’s already one of the best stage racers in the world.
Hesjedal on the attack: Ryder Hesjedal is already a Giro legend for his thrilling back-and-forth battle with Joaquim Rodriguez to win the 2012 edition, but with his 2014 and 2015 fighting performances, he’s become one of the most notable Giro racers of the decade.
In the final week, Ryder rode with élan, always on the attack, clawing his way up the GC. He rose from 13th to 5th in five stages to match his second best Grand Tour result of 5th in the 2010 Tour de France. The two consecutive runner-up spots to Aru on the last mountain days frustrated him, but they also bounced him up from 9th.
The Greatest Costa Rican: Andrey Amador’s tremendous fourth place arose in part because of a power vacuum in the team. With Quintana and Alejandro Valverde slated for the Tour, there was a handful of Movistar riders who could have been the leader and placed in the top ten.
Though the Central American has won a stage of both the Giro and the Vuelta a España, his Grand Tour GC spots have been unimpressive, and his best ever stage race place was 6th in last season’s Tour de Pologne.
Amador achieved fourth quietly, always in a group a little behind Contador, Aru, Landa, and Hesjedal. He was fantastically consistent and helped his cause with a good time trial.
Trek’s Triumph: Trek didn’t bring a GC team to the Giro d’Italia, keeping its powder dry for the Tour. The squad’s highest placed rider was Fabio Felline (Italy) at 31st, and Trek was second from bottom in the team competition. The American outfit’s triumph came in the form of Italian speedster Giacomo Nizzolo winning the points jersey. Nizzolo was runner-up to Nacer Bouhanni for the red jersey last season.
The podium surprise: In the preview post I noted how often a surprise rider fills a step on the Milan podium is filled by, with Aru the unexpected man last year in his ‘revelation race’.
Spaniard Mikel Landa (Astana) is the surprise package of this edition, having never risen above 28th in his four previous Grand Tours. His performances on the climbs were often superior to Aru’s but in the time trial he lost 1:13 more to Contador than his Italian teammate. The early 2015 campaign has been a good one for Landa, having also come runner-up to Richie Porte in April’s Giro del Trentino. He’s out of a contract at the end of the year, but he will be snapped up.
Grand Tour highs: The bottom four riders of the top-ten all enjoyed career Grand Tour highs. Dutchman Steven Kruijswijk of LottoNL-Jumbo (7th) was almost as aggressive as Ryder Hesjedal in his quest for the climber’s jersey and GC places.
Like Kruijswijk, eighth-place Damiano Caruso (Italy/BMC) finished one position better than his previous career Grand Tour high.
Frenchman Alexandre Geniez (FDJ) will be remembered as much for his dicey descending on Stage 12’s wet roads as his ninth place.
Yuri Trofimov (Russia/Katusha) tried a few times to improve his lot over the three days when he was 5th for but ended up rounding out the top-ten.
Done! Canadian Hugo Houle of Ag2r completed his first ever Grand Tour, coming 113th, with 41st in the time trial standing as his best stage result.
