Giro 2024: These innovators make the Giro fun to follow

summary The 2024 Giro d’Italia has been portrayed by some cycling followers as a “boring” Giro, but many riders certainly did their best to make it a spectacle. The 107th edition of the tour was also full of surprises and beautiful stories. Cycling List of fashion trends of the past weeks!

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Tadej Pogacar

Photo: Cor Foss

Talk about a paradox. Given the superior power of Tadej Pogacar, there was no tension for overall victory in the Giro d’Italia, but the Slovenian still managed to entertain cycling fans with unprecedented feats of strength. The cycling phenomenon from Komenda was already one of the trendsetters on the first day in Turin and won the pink jersey on the second day, in the mountain stage to Europe. The UAE leader has already made significant progress in the general classification after the first individual time trial, but do you want to strengthen it? This is not found in Pogacar’s cycling dictionary.

No, Pogacar was keen to do as much justice as possible to the pink jersey. Do you want to win the first very difficult mountain stage in Prati di Tivo? Checks. Do you want to lead the opposition to pieces in the Queen to Livigno stage? Checks. Want to put the finishing touches on the final mountain stage over Monte Grappa? Checks. Pogacar dominated as a true patron of cycling, winning no less than six stages – five of them pink – and managing to extend his lead in the world rankings to almost ten minutes. Competition has been warned for the upcoming Tour de France.

Julian Alaphilippe

Photo: Cor Foss

One of the most important conclusions after the 107th Giro d’Italia? Julian Alaphilippe is not yet finished at the highest level. The 31-year-old Frenchman has been praised and pats on his back for years, but after his second world title in Leuven things came to a head. Falls, physical ailments and disappointing performance: The Soudal Quick-Step rider has seen the other side of the coin in recent years. A new generation of superheroes has surpassed the French public’s favorite and received a fair amount of criticism.

Not least from his team manager, Patrick Lefebvre, who has criticized his teammate on a number of occasions in the media. Alaphilippe looked like he was on his way out, but the born striker once again let his legs do the talking at the Giro. The two-time world champion responded with the pedals, attacking to his heart’s content in recent weeks (Alaphilippe was on the early breakaway no fewer than seven times) and managed to reward himself with an impressive stage victory ahead of Fano. “Julian now proves me wrong. I like it,” was Lefevere’s first reaction.

Jonathan Narvaez

Photo: Cor Foss

Tadej Pogacar has worn the pink jersey for at least twenty days in the Giro d’Italia, but who could be first? maglia rosa Attract? It’s been three weeks now, but for Jonathan Narvaez, it will feel like yesterday. The Ecuadorian experienced perhaps the best moment of his cycling career on the opening stage. The INEOS Grenadiers rider proved capable of following Pogacar up the final steep slope on his way to Turin and then defeated the Slovenian front-runner in the sprint after a thrilling finish.

Narváez was only able to enjoy the pink jersey for one day – and a day later Pogacar took over the jewel in Europe – but it turned out that this was not his last achievement in the Tour of Italy. The Ecuadorian champion searched for a second stage victory in the following weeks and stages. In the end it did not happen, although the distance was only fifty meters on the trip to Naples, but Narváez was able to highlight his attacking style in the race. He managed to color the Giro with his racing temperament in South America.

George Steinhauser

Photo: Cor Foss

In a big Tour you have the expected names, but cycling in three weeks is often full of surprises. Some drivers experience ultimate fulfillment, come from nowhere or get the opportunity to drive for themselves. In recent weeks we have seen George Steinhauser progress at the highest level. The 22-year-old German from EF Education-EasyPost has long been known as a promising rider, but Steinhauser has already managed to introduce himself to the cycling public at the Giro.

The son of former professional cyclist Tobias Steinhauser sent his calling card for his Queen’s stage debut to Livigno. The young climber arrived at the resort in third place after a day of running behind climbers Tadej Pogacar and Nairo Quintana. After his performance on the way to Livigno, Steinhauser was already talking about a successful Giro, but it got better. On the 17th stage in Passo Brocon, the German crossed the finish line as the winner, after an impressive individual performance over 33 kilometres. This produced beautiful images of his clearly emotional father.

Pelayo Sanchez

Photo: Cor Foss

Movistar started with Nairo Quintana and Fernando Gaviria as leaders in the Giro d’Italia, but the star on the Spanish side was really Pelayo Sánchez. The 24-year-old Spaniard has played for Burgos-BH in recent seasons, but has been racing at WorldTour level since this year. After the Tour of Italy we can say that Spanish cycling has gained very strong strength. Sanchez has impressed in recent weeks with his never-ending attacking spirit, attitude and ‘I refuse to give up’ mentality.

But Sanchez also showed at the Giro that there is a winner in it. On the gravel stage of Rapolano Terme, he was part of a strong leading group that included Julian Alaphilippe and Luc Blabb, but the rider from Asturias does not seem to be intimidated by these big names. In fact, Sanchez came out on top after an engaging and hotly contested final, beating his idol Alaphilippe in the sprint. This clearly gave him wings, because we also saw Sanchez in attack frequently in Giroud’s second and third weeks. This earned him second place on the trip to Sápada.

Giulio Pelizzari

Photo: La Presse/Zach Williams

It may not be as successful as it was in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, but the future of Italian cycling looks bright. With 22-year-old Antonio Tiberi, a new Italian cyclist has emerged at this Giro and Jonathan Millan has confirmed his status as the top runner. But the Tifosi will also keep an eye on Giulio Pelizzari’s further development. The 20-year-old lone driver is seen as a great climber and has (partially) managed to achieve this in his first Giro d’Italia.

Although things looked just as bad for Pelizzari and his team VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè. The first two weeks of the Giro were very difficult. “I suffered from several physical ailments. I even thought about giving up, but Massimiliano Gentile and my coach Leonardo Piepoli convinced me to continue. “I now feel good again and look at where we are now,” said the young rider after finishing second in the Tour to Monte Pana, which was only caught in the last kilometer by his idol Tadej Pogacar.

It also showed that Pelizzari is made of good climbing stuff on the final mountain stage over Monte Grappa. The Italian decided not to wait for the man in pink to explode and chose to attack boldly. That didn’t give him a stage win, but Pelizzari once again showed his superiority on the steep sides of Mount Grappa. The future is smiling for the new Italian climbing hope.

Honorable mention

Riders such as Pogačar, Alaphilippe and Steinhauser have provided a fantastic racing spectacle in recent weeks, but there was more to stand out. Take Valentine Barrett Pinter for example. The 23-year-old Frenchman from Decathlon AG2R took his first professional win in the Giro d’Italia (on the Bocca della Selva stage) and showed very impressive things going uphill. The rider who most often managed to stick his nose into the window was Alpecin-Deceuninck’s Nicola Conce.

Mirco Maestri rode the Giro very attacking and therefore eye-catching – Photo: Cor Vos

Drivers who also deserve an honorable mention, based on their attacking spirit, are Luc Blabb (Jayko Al-Ula), Simon Jeschke (Cofidis) and Michael Valgren (EF Education-EasyPost). And what would the Giro d’Italia be without the Italian ProTeams? Polti-Kometa added color to the game through strikers Mirko Maestri and Andrea Pietropone, while Filippo Fiorelli and Alessandro Tonelli did so on behalf of VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè.