Pogacar wins the Giro d’Italia by a wide margin and will now aim for a 3rd Tour de France title

ROME (AP) — Tadej Pogacar won the Giro d’Italia on Sunday by the race’s largest margin of victory in nearly six decades — taking home a third Grand Tour trophy to go with his two Tour de France titles.

Pogacar, riding a pink bike with his pink jersey, shorts and helmet, crossed safely into the main peloton to conclude the mostly ceremonial final stage of the three-week race in Rome, ending with a 9-point advantage minutes and 56 seconds on finalist Daniel Martinez.

Geraint Thomas finished third overall, at 10:24.

The last time there was a larger margin of victory at the Giro was in 1965, when Vittorio Adorni won by 11:26.

Pogacar, a Slovenian from UAE Team Emirates, also won six stages of the race, the most since Eddy Merckx also won six in 1973.

Pogacar will now attempt to rest and recover in time to try to win his third Tour title, with cycling’s biggest race starting on June 29 with four stages in Italy.

Pogacar will attempt to become the first rider to win the Giro and Tour in the same year since Marco Pantani in 1998.

The Belgian Tim Merlier won the last stage in the sprint ahead of Jonathan Milan at the Coliseum. This is Merlier’s fourth career Giro victory and third this year.

Milan, the Italian sprinter who also won three stages in the race, suffered a mechanical problem and had to change bikes at the start of the final lap. He then managed to catch up with the main peloton and almost achieved another victory.

The final, mostly flat 125-kilometer (78-mile) stage ended with a circuit through the center of the capital that was completed eight times, passing the Baths of Caracalla, the Roman Forum, the Tiber and the Cirque Maxime before finishing on cobblestones near the Arch of Constantine.

Pogacar competed in the Giro for the first time this year and made an immediate impact. He finished second in the first stage in Turin and gained time on almost all his direct competitors. Then he won the second stage, seized the leader’s pink jersey and continued to increase his advantage day after day.

Pogacar won the Tour in 2020 and 2021 then finished second behind Jonas Vingegaard in 2022 and 2023.

Vingegaard hopes to defend his Tour title despite a fall in April that left him with several broken ribs and a collapsed lung.

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