Tadej Pogacar almost definitively secures the Giro d'Italia 2024

From exhibition to exhibition. This is how we can describe the Giro d'Italia 2024 that Tadej Pogacar is giving us, who has not settled for defending the huge advantage he already has in the general classification but has allowed himself to add almost another 3 minutes to his rivals in the general classification, who already assume that the only possible fight will be for second and third place.

Nairo Quintana is back in the spotlight on the day Pogacar seals the Giro d'Italia 2024

First of the queen stages of the Giro d'Italia 2024, a day with a route that is no longer seen, in the old style. An authentic gran fondo with 222 kilometers that took the cyclists from Manerba del Garda to the heart of the Alps, specifically to Livigno, a usual place for training and altitude concentrations for a large part of the peloton, with a terrifying accumulated elevation gain of 5,400 m.

A route with three clearly differentiated sections. A first part where the Lodrino and Colle San Zeno passes were linked, classified as third and second category respectively, where the breakaway of the day would probably be formed. A central valley section, always slightly uphill until reaching the foot of the mythical Mortirolo, which, on this occasion, was climbed by its friendlier face, starting in the town of Monno and where the race usually descends. From there, again in constant ascent, up the valley to face the Passo di Foscagno and the last kilometers to Livigno with the final trap of the arrival at the Mottolino ski slopes, as is usual in this type of finishes, with ramps of up to 20%.

Despite the early attacks, the race started with unusual calm, perhaps due to caution about what was to come. This quickly led to an initial breakaway of 12 riders, among whom names like Pithie or Calmejane stood out. The situation did not sit well with Cofidis, despite having a man in the group, who was pulling to reduce the gap before the ascent to Lodrino.

As expected, the start of this climb marked the beginning of attacks, now with more prominent names, forming a group of no less than 50 units, something completely atypical although, as none of them were close in the general classification, with Storer as the best classified more than 9 minutes behind, the peloton let them go but with caution, never allowing them to have more than a 5-minute advantage. In this group, we found quality cyclists like Geschke, Juanpe López, Nairo Quintana, Pelayo Sánchez, Julian Alaphilippe, Luke Plapp... who managed to catch up with the leaders at the top of Colle San Zeno.

In the descent from this second climb of the day, a small group of 6 cyclists stood out, making their way to the Mortirolo. A transition section on the road with a continuous false flat, always gaining meters in the stage's elevation gain. A zone where UAE Team Emirates finally made their appearance at the front of the group to start controlling the race and set the pace to Tadej Pogacar's liking.

There was hardly any action on the ascent to Mortirolo beyond the usual natural selection among the escapees, reducing the number of riders at the front, while in the peloton, the pace was still being controlled. Proof of this is that a big rider like Filippo Ganna managed to crest this climb with the rest of his teammates when, for a rider of his characteristics, it would be normal to be riding in the grupetto at that stage of the race.

A fast descent towards the Valtellina valley on the way to a city with as much cycling flavor as Bormio. Again, despite being a valley road, always slightly uphill and with the accumulated fatigue of a distance that was gradually approaching 200 kilometers.

In fact, it was not even necessary to reach the ascent to Passo di Foscagno to see how the breakaway began to disintegrate on the steep ramps that line the road leading to Livigno, with only 9 survivors of that numerous group that escaped at the beginning of the stage at the foot of the climb.

On the slopes of Fosagno, Georg Steinhauser was the first to launch his attack, quickly standing out to open a gap of one minute. Attila Valter also tried, finding himself in no man's land, and a little further back, Michael Storer left the group and caught up with Nairo Quintana, who had not had an easy day.

They easily caught up with Valter and went after Steinhauser until the moment when the reduction of the gap began to stall, and that was when the Colombian chose to launch his attack. This situation coincided just when, surely through their earpieces, they were informed in the peloton that the second-to-last man from UAE Team Emirates had dropped back, and it was Rafal Majka who took over the lead and started setting the typical launching pace, only to see Tadej Pogacar launch a strong attack a minute later, to which no one made the slightest attempt to respond.

Nairo Quintana caught up with the EF Education-EasyPost rider, becoming the head of the race, turning the end of the stage into an exciting pursuit in which the Colombian would have a tremendously difficult time winning, given the devastating pace that Pogacar was setting from behind. The Slovenian quickly caught up with the survivors of the breakaway, of whom only Attila Valter made a timid attempt to hold onto his wheel, and managed to catch Steinhausser with the summit of Foscagno in sight. Nairo Quintana managed to crest this climb with just a 35-second difference from the Slovenian.

A couple of kilometers of descent where Nairo gained several seconds by taking risks in each corner before facing the final ascent where he had no chance, being caught by Tadej Pogacar under the 2-kilometer banner for the finish, just before starting the terrifying final stretch where Tadej Pogacar did not seem to suffer despite the double-digit gradients, crossing the finish line exultant and victorious with a celebration that indicated he already knows he is the virtual winner of the Giro d'Italia with still more than a week of racing to go.

Behind, the wear and tear of the day took its toll on riders like O'Connor or Daniel Felipe Martínez, who held on as best they could to Thomas' wheel, who in turn followed his teammate Arensman, who was chasing Romain Bardet trying to gain a few seconds. Barely any attacks and survival rhythms in a grueling stage that led them to cross the finish line almost 3 minutes after Tadej Pogacar.

Stage 15 Classification

1. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 6h11'41''
2. Nairo Quintana (Movistar Team) +29''
3. Gerog Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost) +2'32''
4. Romain Bardet (DSM-Firmenich-PostNL) +2'48''
5. Daniel Felipe Martínez (Bora-Hansgrohe) +2'51''
6. Geraint Thomas (INEOS-Grenadiers) +2'51''
7. Einer Rubio (Movistar Team) +2'59''
8. Ben O'Connor (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) +2'59''
9. Thymen Arensman (INEOS-Grenadiers) +3'08''
10. Jan Hirt (Soudal-QuickStep) +3'21''

General Classification

1. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 56h11'46''
2. Geraint Thomas (INEOS Grenadiers) +6'41''
3. Daniel Felipe Martínez (Bora-Hansgrohe) +6'56''
4. Ben O'Connor (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) +7'43''
5. Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain-Victorious) +9'27''
6. Thymen Arensman (INEOS Grenadiers) +9'45''
7. Romain Bardet (DSM-Firmenich-PostNL) +10'49''
8. Filippo Zana (Jayco-AlUla) +11'11''
9. Einer Rubio (Movistar Team) +12'13''
10. Jan Hirt (Soudal-QuickStep) +13'11''