Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) wins final Giro d'Italia stage.

Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) wins stage 21 and final stage of 2018 Giro d'Italia.
Christopher Froome (Team Sky) seals overrall 2018 Giro d'Italia victory in Rome, Italy.

How it unfolded

A largely ceremonial stage, the Giro visited Italy’s capital Rome for the first time since 2009. It was the fourth time the race has finished there - the others being 1911 and 1950 - and only the fifth stage finish in Rome since the 1960s.

Ignatas Konovalovas in 2009, Oreste Conte in 1950 and Ezio Corlaita in 1911 had previously taken the final stage honours in the capital, with a bunch sprint expected this time around. The stage itself featured ten laps of a flat 11.5km course, passing sights such as the Colosseum, Altare della Patria and the Piazza del Popolo.

The early stages of the day were characterised by numerous high-profile riders holding discussions with race officials. The day’s course was the topic, with riders seemingly surprised by the state of the course, including a cobbled section, while reports of various directors being unhappy about a lack of marshalling on the route.

Final top ten General classification standings.

1, Chris Froome (Great Britain) Team Sky 89:02:39,
2, Tom Dumoulin (Netherland) Team Sunweb 0:00:46,
3, Miguel Angel Lopez (Colombia) Astana Pro Team 0:04:57,
4, Richard Carapaz (Ecuador) Movistar Team 0:05:44,
5, Domenico Pozzovivo (Italy) Bahrain-Merida 0:08:03,
6, Pello Bilbao (Spain) Astana Pro Team 0:11:50,
7, Patrick Konrad (Austra) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:13:01,
8, George Bennett (NewZealand) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:13:17,
9, Sam Oomen (Netherland) Team Sunweb 0:14:18,
10, Davide Formolo (Italy) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:15:16