Giro d'Italia turns from race to procession as Tadej Pogačar annihilates his rivals

Demolished, decimated, dissected and destroyed.

On the brutal slopes of the Passo di Foscagno and the final ramps up the Mottolino, maglia rosa Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) put minutes into his rivals at the Giro d'Italia.

So far in this year’s Giro, the Slovenian has raced with a pragmatic sense of aggression but on the ascent of the Passo di Foscagno he put everyone to the sword, even cutting through the day’s break, which had close to three minutes on the maglia rosa group at the point of Pogačar’s attack.

After his teammate Rafal Majka lifted the pace with a searing turn of speed that lined out the group, Pogačar kicked clear. Try as they might, no one could come close to him on a day that will go down as a defining moment in both the rider’s career and the entire Giro d’Italia.

• Giro d'Italia stage 15: Tadej Pogačar soars to queen stage victory

No rider in the last two decades has been so dominant, so ruthless and so efficient. This was more than Vingegaard, more than Nibali, more than Contador and even more than Froome ever achieved on such a consistent basis.

Froome, for all his Tour wins, would typically drop his rivals in one killer move on the first mountain test and then buttress his lead for the rest of the race, but Pogačar had close to four minutes coming into stage 15 and still went on the offensive.

On the way to his stage win he went past riders like they were standing still, and caught last man standing Nairo Quintana with 2km to go. The stage, and the race were long over by that point as the most popular website in the Livigno press room switched from that of the Giro d'Italia to Skyscanner in the blink of an eye, as journalists pondered whether a third week on the road was worth it. Tonight plenty of riders will feel the same.

The opposition, to be fair, fought with genuine valour and respect for each other and the race. Dani Martinez (Bora-Hansgrohe) briefly missed the wheel when Pogačar attacked but volleyed clear in hot pursuit before seeing sense and waiting for the cavalry.

Thymen Arsenman gave Geraint Thomas an incredible cameo in setting the pace in the chase group, and Ben O’Connor slipped but didn’t crack completely to keep his podium hopes alive for another day at least.

Roman Bardet (dsm-firmenich-PostNL) attacked from the GC group and even made up time on several riders, while Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) lost significant time alongside Filippo Zana (Jayco AlUla). The time gaps all across the board between Pogačar and the rest were massive.

Bardet was the best of the GC hopefuls home in fourth place at 2:47, with Martinez and Thomas three seconds further back. The Frenchman might wonder if his attack with 10km to go came a little too soon. Einer Rubio (Movistar) also attacked but lost 2:58 and finished level with O’Connor, while Arensman crossed the line a few seconds later.

Jan Hirt came home 3:05 down on the winner, with Zana at 3:35.

In the overall standings, the GC remained intact in that the top five riders maintained their positions but Pogačar’s lead over second-placed Thomas is now a jaw-dropping 6:41, with Martinez at 6:56. O’Connor is now at 7:45, while Tiberi’s time loss puts him at 9:27. 

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