Tom Dumoulin wins the 2017 Giro d'Italia after Nail Biting final Time Trial

The 26 year old SunWeb rider clawed back over 53 seconds, as Dutch compatriot Jos van Emden, LottoNL-Jumbo won the final time trial from Monza to Milan. Dumoulin becomes the first Dutchman to win the Giro d'Italia

It was a nerve racking, nail biting finale, that came down to the wire! As riders set off in reverse order, it was Jos van Emden from LottoNL-Jumbo who set the fastest time of 33m 8 secs.

Before the start, Dumoulin needed to beat Quintana by 53 seconds, Vincenzo Nibali 39 secs and Thibaut Pinot 43 secs to win back the Maglia Rosa, it was going to be very close!

Tom Dumoulin set a very fast time at the first checkpoint, only 2 seconds slower than the fastest time set by Jos van Emden.

Nairo Quintana was 33 seconds down at the first checkpoint, Dumoulin got over half his 53 seconds deficit back at the first time check.

Tom Dumoulin set the 2nd fastest time of 33m 23s just behind fellow Dutchman Jos van Emden.

Vincenzo Nibali set a time of 34m 17s and took third place overall.

Nairo Quintana lost more and more time as Dumoulin looked on anxiously and by the final time check, he was around 13 seconds down on Dumoulin, and took second overall.

Fernando Gaviria from Quick-Step Floors took the Sprinters points jersey.

Mikel Landa, Team Sky, took the KOM jersey and Bob Jungels beat Adam Yates to win the young riders White jersey.

Nairo Quintana, 2nd overall, reaction:

Nairo Quintana came 31 seconds short to winning the 100th Giro d’Italia and claiming what would have been his second overall success in the first Grand Tour of the season.

Nairo Quintana said: "A podium finish is not something to be disappointed about. We’re not machines, we can’t do everything we want as we want before a race”, said Quintana. “Sometimes, you don’t get the prize you want, even when you work hard to accomplish your goals. More in contrary: we’re happy, satisfied about this result. The best thing in this Giro was the great teamwork – I have no words to describe how grateful I am towards the whole Movistar Team. We could have done it better, maybe worse, but we’re on the podium and that’s what counts right now. Dumoulin didn’t look like the main rival for us before the race, yet he bested everyone with excellent TT and mountain performance. He really deserves this victory."

“We continue to grow, to gain experience. Today’s TT is a big experience, really. There were also moutnain stages where I could have done better, but the legs just felt like they did. I went through some illness at a few stages into the final week, days where I could just manage to stay with the GC group. Still, we knew before today’s TT that we needed a bigger advantage heading into the final TT. 70km of time trials are too many when you’ve got to defend yourself against riders like Tom. I think we did a nice job at those, though."

“This Giro makes me feel even more confident about my consistency on Grand Tours. If you prepare well, you’ll be up there with the best guys in the race – that’s a huge boost of morale. We’re willing to continue working hard after this, and several things are looking good before the Tour – my legs seem to be doing well. Also, there will be many details to correct, things to polish. The Giro has been a huge test whose results we’ll have to analyze from now. I want to thank all fans, especially those in Colombia, for their support and messages. We left everything on the road, and I hope we made them proud about our efforts.”

Vincenzo Nibali, 3rd overall, reaction:

After over three weeks of racing, Vincenzo Nibali failed to win a third pink jersey as Tom Dumoulin became the first Dutchman to win the Giro d’Italia following a strong ride in the time trial. Naro Quintana managed to hang on to second place, with home favourite and defending champion Vincenzo Nibali having to settle for third.

Vincenzo Nibali said: “I wanted to finish on the top step of the podium but I’ve no regrets because I gave my very best. This is an important podium and an important result for me. I always expect more from myself but I think I did my best.”

“I rode to win the Giro d’Italia, not just finish on the podium in Milan. I gave it everything and I think people saw that,” Nibali said.

“The time trials were the key to his year’s Giro d’Italia. That helped Tom. But he was the strongest and came out on top. He totally deserved to win the Giro d’Italia.”

“It’s never easy to race day after day, always being ready for anything. We’ve all got strengths and weaknesses and they emerged during the three weeks of intense racing,” Nibali explained.

“I had some good days but also some difficult days. The worst were the finish to Blockhaus and Oropa when I lost some time, perhaps too much time. They were key stages for me. I didn’t have the brute strength on the single climb finishes and I didn’t give my best. But as I said, I fought all the way and gave it my best shot”.

Tom Dumoulin, the Maglia Rosa winners reaction:

Tom Dumoulin said “This is a dream come true, When I crossed the line, they said, ‘You won! You won!’ Then it was only three seconds. I was freaking out. It was incredible.”

“I could not have imagined this, never,” Dumoulin added. “I was strong, I was lucky, everything fell into the place during the Giro. Nairo Quintana did an amazing ride today. I won it, it’s incredible. I was feeling good, but halfway through, in my earpiece, they said, don’t take risks anymore, and I thought, OK, I must be winning. They should never do that again, because when I crossed the line, it was still so close.”

“It’s crazy, I don’t know what to say,” said Dumoulin, who was initially given a taste for the pink jersey when he wore it for the first time in Apeldoorn last year after victory in the opening stage time trial."

2017 Giro d'Italia Stage 21 Top Ten Results

1 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:33:08
2 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:00:15
3 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:00:27
4 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky 0:00:31
5 Joey Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:00:35
6 Jan Bárta (Cze) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:39
7 Georg Preidler (Aut) Team Sunweb 0:00:51
8 Bob Jungels (Lux) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:54
9 Jan Tratnik (Slo) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:00:57
10 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team

2017 Giro d'Italia Overall General Classification

1 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb 90:34:54
2 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 0:00:31
3 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:40
4 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ 0:01:17
5 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:01:56
6 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:03:11
7 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:03:41
8 Bob Jungels (Lux) Quick-Step Floors 0:07:04
9 Adam Yates (GBr) Orica-Scott 0:08:10
10 Davide Formolo (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac 0:15:17

2017 Giro d'Italia White Jersey

1 Bob Jungels, Quick-Step Floors

2017 Giro d'Italia KOM Jersey

1 Mikel Landa (Spa) Team Sky 224 pts
2 Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team 118
3 Omar Fraile (Spa) Dimension Data 104
4 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 70
5 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Cannondale-Drapac 70
6 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 66
7 Igor Anton (Spa) Dimension Data 56
8 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb 55
9 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 54
10 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ

2017 Giro d'Italia Points Jersey

1 Fernando Gaviria (Col) Quick-Step Floors 325 pts
2 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 192
3 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe 117
4 Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) Dimension Data 100
5 Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 98
6 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb 80
7 Pavel Brutt (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo 76
8 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Dimension Data 76
9 Eugert Zhupa (Alb) Wilier Triestina 70
10 Roberto Ferrari (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 70