Dutchman Tom Dumoulin wins Giro d'Italia on final stage after 21 days of racing

Dutchman Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) won the 100th edition of cycling's Giro d'Italia on Sunday in Milan, clinching victory in the three-week race on the last day.

Climbing ace Colombian Nairo Quintana (Movistar Team) wore the race leader's maglia rosa, or pink jersey, going into the last day but lost it to the time-trial specialist Dumoulin after a flat individual race against the clock, won by Jos Van Emden (Team Lotto NL-Jumbo) of the Netherlands.

Quintana ended up second overall and Italy's Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) third.

It was tight at the top of the general classification going into Sunday as the four highest-placed riders were separated by just 53 seconds.

But TT star Dumoulin delivered the performance expected and was never in doubt as he ripped around the 29.3-kilometer (18.2-mile) course just 15 seconds slower than Van Emden, whose winning time of 33 minutes, 8 seconds translated to an average speed of 53.058 km/h (32.968 mph).

Dumoulin started the stage 53 seconds down on Quintana but ended up beating him by 31 seconds overall. He won the centenary Giro in 90 hours, 34:54 seconds.

It is Dumoulin's first grand tour win, and Dumoulin is the first Dutch winner of the Giro.

Quintana won the Giro in 2014 and the Vuelta a España in 2016. He had said prerace that he wanted to do the double this year — that is, to win the Giro and the Tour de France— but Dumoulin proved to be the strongest rider and rode far better in the mountains than many had expected.

Speaking after the stage finish, Dumoulin said:

"When I crossed the finish line, everyone congratulated me. I was celebrating my victory but in the tent, I saw there were only three seconds difference between Nairo Quintana and myself. I became angry with everyone who congratulated me. I was super nervous. I’ve had the most nervous moments of my whole life.

“You’re never sure of winning, you always doubt. I think everybody does. I wasn’t really nervous at breakfast. I was happy with my night before this time trial considering the stress. The recce was good, I had a mattress to relax on at the back of the bus. At lunch I was nervous, my metabolism was really high in the bus. But I could always stay focused. I’ve done a lot of TTs under pressure before. That experience paid a lot today.

“I’m not the first TT rider who can do well in the mountains. Miguel Indurain is five steps ahead of me. There are guys like Bradley Wiggins, but I don’t want to compare myself to anyone. It’s just an amazing day. I’m really happy. I was never a bad climber. I always had that in me. I never trained in the hills really when I was young. There are no long climbs around Maastricht. But now I do more training camps in the mountains, in Tenerife and Sierra Nevada. I’ve also made a switch mentally. I suffer more now. I didn’t lose much weight, I’m maybe two kilos lighter than I was three years ago.

“The hardest stage of the Giro was three days ago when they attacked me in downhill. After the intestinal troubles I had, I knew I would have some food problems. The good thing is that on a bad day like that I lost only one minute. I had the experience of losing much more at the Vuelta. I stayed calm and I limited the losses this time.

"Everything was very quick after the finish so I can’t realize what’s happening in the Netherlands now, but I will always stay the same person. Maybe people will approach me differently, but I really hope I can walk around in Maastricht without being treated like a superhero. I can ride my bike fast but I also want to keep having a normal life. It’s amazing when you see all the names on the [endless] trophy. It’s an honor to be part of this long list of champions. I don’t feel myself like a champion, but I almost feel like it when I see my name on the trophy. It’s very special. Jan Janssen was the first Dutchman to win the Tour and the Vuelta, I’m the first Dutchman to win the Giro. I hope for more in the future but for now I’m just happy to be here. The Giro victory is not going to change my whole life. I hope to stay the same person with the same character. I won a very special race.

“I didn’t really have childhood heroes. I was around 15 years old when I started to ride and follow cycling. Michael Boogerd was big in the Netherlands at that time, so when I went watching our home race, the Amstel Gold Race with parents, we were cheering for guys like Boogerd.”

Here's the moment Dumoulin realized he'd won #Giro100.

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