The remarkable swing in Vincenzo Nibali's fortunes in the dying days of the Giro d'Italia is already drawing comparisons with comebacks past, such as Fausto Coppi's on the Stelvio in 1953 or Charly Gaul's on the Piccolo San Bernardo six years later.
And, like those sepia-tinted exploits, it might take years or even decades for the full story of Nibali's turnaround to be told, but some details did begin to emerge as he mounted the podium in Turin on Sunday afternoon to accept the Trofeo Senza Fine.
Speaking at the finish, Astana coach Paolo Slongo revealed that Nibali had suffered from a bout of dysentery on the eve of the mountain time trial, which was to prove his most trying moment of this Giro, as he shipped 2:10 to maglia rosa Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo).
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"Before the time trial I wasn't very well on account of intestinal problems, but I didn't say anything because I didn't want my rivals to know it," Nibali said by way of confirmation. "I had some intestinal problems but I tried to put it to the back of my mind at the time. Maybe that was what weakened me slightly. But the rest day was useful for putting me right."
Nibali's travails continued at Andalo when the race resumed after the rest day, however, and Astana decided to send him for further tests to investigate if an underlying health problem could explain his subdued performances in the opening two weeks. "But I never said I wanted to go home," Nibali told reporters on Sunday afternoon following stage 21. "It was you who wrote that."
The turning point of Nibali's Giro – a race he could ill afford to lose in the wider context of his career and likely departure from Astana at year's end – came under cover of cloud atop the Colle dell'Agnello. Up to that point, Kruijswijk had appeared impregnable as the Giro's leader, but a crash at the beginning of the descent was to prove ruinous, and ultimately swung the race in Nibali's favour. Would he have won the Giro had Kruisjwijk stayed on his bike?
Watch 2016 Giro d'Italia stage 21 highlights video
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