Giro d’Italia: Damiano Caruso wins stage 20

Image 1 of 38

Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) won stage 20 of the 2021 Giro d’Italia (Image credit: Getty Images) Image 2 of 38

Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) won stage 20 of the 2021 Giro d’Italia (Image credit: Getty Images) Image 3 of 38

Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) went on the attack on the penultimate climb (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Image 4 of 38

Pello Bilbao helped Damiano Caruso to gain time (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 5 of 38

Romain Bardet went on the attack with second-placed Damiano Caruso on the penultimate climb (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 6 of 38

Damiano Caruso on the attack (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 7 of 38

Jonathan Castroviejo leads the maglia rosa Egan Bernal (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 8 of 38

(Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Image 9 of 38

Louis Vervaeke (Alpecin-Fenix) (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 10 of 38

Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) in the maglia rosa (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Image 11 of 38

Snow-capped mountains made for great scenery on stage 20 (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Image 12 of 38

Ineos Grenadiers ride through the snow banks (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Image 13 of 38

Snow in the alps on stage 20 (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Image 14 of 38

Belgian champion Dries de Bondt made the breakaway (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Image 15 of 38

Scenery on stage 20 of the Giro d’Italia (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 16 of 38

Taco van der Hoorn rides in the breakaway (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Image 17 of 38

Vincenzo Albanese (Eolo Kometa) leads the escape group (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Image 18 of 38

Felix Großschartner (Bora-Hansgrohe) attacks (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 19 of 38

BikeExchange sets the pace in the peloton (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Image 20 of 38

Dries de Bondt (Alpecin-Fenix) (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Image 21 of 38

Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) looking focussed (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Image 22 of 38

Stage 20 of the Giro d’Italia (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Image 23 of 38

Scenery on stage 20 of the Giro d’Italia (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 24 of 38

A Colombian supporter of Egan Bernal on the road side (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Image 25 of 38

Scenery on stage 20 of the Giro d’Italia (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 26 of 38

Stage 20 of the Giro d’Italia (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Image 27 of 38

Simon Pellaud (Androni Giocattoli) greets his supporters (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Image 28 of 38

The peloton on stage 20 of the Giro d’Italia (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Image 29 of 38

Astana ride in the peloton on stage 20 (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Image 30 of 38

The jersey holders at the start of stage 20 (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Image 31 of 38

Simon Yates (BikeExchange) at the start of stage 20 (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Image 32 of 38

Ineos Grenadiers at the start (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Image 33 of 38

Ineos Grenadiers relax before stage 20 (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Image 34 of 38

Filippo Ganna got a visit from his dog at the start (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Image 35 of 38

Mia the dog was super happy to see Filippo Ganna (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Image 36 of 38

Dog therapy! Ganna’s pup Mia gets some belly rubs from her dad and Davide Cimolai (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Image 37 of 38

Riders relax along Lago Maggiore before stage 20 (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) Image 38 of 38

Mia the pup gives dad Filippo Ganna a smootch (Image credit: Bettini Photo)

Egan Bernal successfully defended the pink jersey on the penultimate stage of the Giro d’Italia and is on the brink of sealing overall victory.

Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) won the stage, but by finishing just 24 seconds ahead of Bernal, does not appear to have not done enough to keep himself in contention for the pink jersey with just tomorrow’s time trial stage to come.

While the expected attack never materialised from Simon Yates (BikeExchange), who Bernal dropped on the final climb, Caruso put Ineos Grenadiers under pressure for much of the day after going clear on a descent with his teammate Pello Bilbao, along with Romain Bardet and a couple of his DSM teammates.

But an astonishing ride on the final climb from Dani Martinez, who managed to drop every one of Bernal’s rivals in the peloton until it was just the two Ineos Grenadiers riders left, kept Caruso within a safe distance by the finish, and keeps the Italian 1:59 adrift of Bernal on GC.

More to come!

Brief Results Pos. Rider Name (Country) Team Result 1 Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain Victorious 4:27:53 2 Egan Bernal Gomez (Col) Ineos Grenadiers 0:00:24 3 Daniel Martinez Poveda (Col) Ineos Grenadiers 0:00:35 4 Romain Bardet (Fra) Team DSM 5 João Almeida (Por) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:41 6 Simon Yates (GBr) Team BikeExchange 0:00:51 7 Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Astana-Premier Tech 0:01:13 8 Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education-Nippo 0:01:29 9 Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team 0:02:07 10 Antonio Pedrero (Spa) Movistar Team 0:02:23 General classification after stage 20 Pos. Rider Name (Country) Team Result 1 Egan Bernal Gomez (Col) Ineos Grenadiers 85:41:47 2 Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain Victorious 0:01:59 3 Simon Yates (GBr) Team BikeExchange 0:03:23 4 Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Astana-Premier Tech 0:07:07 5 Romain Bardet (Fra) Team DSM 0:07:48 6 Daniel Martinez Poveda (Col) Ineos Grenadiers 0:07:56 7 Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education-Nippo 0:08:22 8 João Almeida (Por) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:08:50 9 Tobias Foss (Nor) Jumbo-Visma 0:12:39 10 Dan Martin (Irl) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:16:48