New Maglia Rosa leader Esteban Chaves has said that stage 19 was a special day for him.
Chaves went into the leader's jersey with two stages to go and said: “It’s is a special day for me, my team and my country. Ruben [Plaza] went into the break, I was up there when the attacks started 5km from the top of the Agnello. It was an early move but it was the right time to attack to make a difference. It’s not easy to follow Nibali downhill. He’s crazy to do that, but I must be crazy too to follow him. I’m sorry for Steven Kruijswijk. Crashes are part of cycling. He behaved like a warrior. It’s a dream to be in the Maglia Rosa. If I bring the jersey home, it’ll be great, if not, I’ll have done everything I could”.
Stage 19 winner Vincenzo Nibali said: “I’ve always known that something is likely to happen in the final days of a Grand Tour. I had good sensations in the high mountains today. Climbing the Colle dell’Agnello, I saw several riders suffering so I accelerated. Steven Kruijswijk wasn’t doing great. We had Michele Scarponi in an important breakaway. I mostly thought of winning the stage. I rode away and went straight to Risoul. It wasn’t simple to bounce back but inside myself, I kept believing that I could do something before the end of the Giro. This is for sure a beautiful victory but my favourite one remains Il Lombardia”.
FINAL RESULT
1 - Vincenzo Nibali (Astana Pro Team) - 162km in 4h19'54", ave. 37.398km/h
2 - Mikel Nieve (Team Sky) at 51"
3 - Esteban Chaves (Orica Greenedge) at 53"
JERSEYS
- Maglia Rosa (pink), General Classification, sponsored by Enel - Esteban Chaves (Orica Greenedge)
- Maglia Rossa (red), Sprint Classification, sponsored by Algida - Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek - Segafredo)
- Maglia Azzurra (blue), Mountains Classification, sponsored by Banca Mediolanum - Damiano Cunego (Nippo - Vini Fantini)
- Maglia Bianca (white), Young Rider Classification, sponsored by Eurospin - Bob Jungels (Etixx – Quick-Step)
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
1 - Esteban Chaves (Orica Greenedge)
2 - Vincenzo Nibali (Astana Pro Team) at 44"
3 - Steven Kruijswijk (Team Lotto NL - Jumbo) at 1'05"
4 - Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team) at 1'48"
5 - Rafal Majka (Tinkoff) at 3'59"
STATISTICS
- Esteban Chaves is the third Colombian to wear the Maglia Rosa after Rigoberto Uran and Nairo Quintana, both in 2014
- This is the eleventh Maglia Rosa for Colombia (Uran: 4, Quintana: 6, Chaves: 1)
- Esteban Chaves takes his first Maglia Rosa exactly eighty and forty years after Gino Bartali and Francesco Moser respectively
- This is not the first time Esteban Chaves has led a Grand Tour. Last year, he led the Vuelta a España for six days but the race was eventually won a rider from Astana (Fabio Aru) who moved into the lead on the eve of the conclusive stage in Madrid