No regrets, just healthy disappointment. Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) began the final stage of the Giro d'Italia holding out the faintest hopes of joining Jacques Anquetil, Bernard Hinault and Laurent Fignon among the happy few Frenchmen to have travelled south of the Alps and claimed the maglia rosa. He ended it just shy of the podium, dropping from third to fourth place overall after a low-key display in the concluding time trial in Milan.
While winner Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb), deposed maglia rosa Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and last year's champion Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) were detained for the Giro's famously drawn-out final podium ceremonies, Pinot was ushered to the mixed zone, where he quietly picked through his fine debut in the corsa rosa.
"I'm disappointed now, of course. But I won a stage and up to this morning I was in the fight for the podium or even for overall victory, so there are lots of positives to take from the Giro," said Pinot, who finished the race 1:17 behind Dumoulin and 37 seconds off Nibali's third place.
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"The final balance is good all the same even if it's a pity about the podium. I think I did a good time trial against Nibali, but I wasn't super. I don't have any regrets because I gave my maximum, and the top three deserve to their podium too. Everyone is in his place."
Pinot set out from Monza 10 seconds ahead of Dumoulin and only 43 seconds off Quintana's maglia rosa. His improvements against the watch over the past three seasons were capped by a French title in the discipline last year, but despite his recent pedigree, Pinot looked heavy-legged in Sunday's 29.3-kilometre test. His efforts in the final week had exacted a toll.
Pushing a 55-tooth chainring – Dumoulin's strength was such that he turned a 58-tooth chainring – Pinot could only manage 28th in the time trial, losing 1:27 to Dumoulin and eventually placing one position and three seconds behind Quintana. "It was a very particular time trial, and I just tried to go full on," Pinot said.
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