Rating the Giro d’Italia top 10

The curtain came down on the 2023 Giro d’Italia on Sunday with an exceptional weekend of racing. Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) usurped Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) in the final mountain time trial at Monte Lussari to claim the maglia rosa in thrilling fashion while João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) cemented his reputation with a maiden Grand Tour podium. The rest of the overall top ten was populated with outsiders, veteran leaders and GC newcomers. We take a look at where the 2023 Giro d’Italia leaves the top ten finishers and what could be on the horizon for the rest of the season and beyond.

10. Laurens de Plus
Team: Ineos Grenadiers
Age: 27
Giro d’Italia highlight: A clutch of sterling super domestique rides in the mountains.
Giro d’Italia report: A couple of years ago De Plus’ career hung on the precipice after health issues scuppered both his final season at Jumbo-Visma and his debut campaign at Ineos. After an improved 2022 De Plus has kicked on once again, and his Giro d’Italia performance was his best Grand Tour to date. He couldn’t have given any more for the team in the mountains and was regularly at Geraint Thomas’ side when it mattered most. He wasn’t quite at Sepp Kuss’ level but few if any riders were during that final week. De Plus’ ride on the final mountain stage, when having been dropped on the penultimate climb, he returned to the front of the race before giving his team leader one last turn summed up De Plus’ race in a nutshell.
What’s next? De Plus is out of contract at the end of the season and will have no shortage of offers as teams spy a super domestique, who at 27, could still turn into a leader in his own right. Ineos has a company of riders out of contract at the end of the year but they will be hard-pressed to find a better option than De Plus, who could ride either the Giro or the Tour in 2024.

9. Lennard Kämna

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Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe)

Team: Bora-Hansgrohe
Age: 26
Giro d’Italia highlight: Providing Bora with a GC focal point after Aleksandr Vlasov’s departure.
Giro d’Italia report: Kämna went under the radar for the first half of the Giro d’Italia, only rising to prominence once Vlasov quit due to illness on stage 10. By that point Kämna had managed to keep himself within touching distance of a top five finish but with the race back-ended with mountain stages there was no certainty that the German could hold on for a high overall placing. His eventual ninth place in Rome may not have been obtained with any fireworks but Kämna’s sheer consistency was nevertheless impressive. He may have shipped a handful of places by the time the race reached Rome but this was still his highest Grand Tour finish, and yet further proof of his underrated versatility.
What’s next? Kämna went back-to-back with Giro and Tour rides in 2022 but a more likely scenario this season would see the 26-year-old take a well-earned break before ramping up towards the second half of the season and a possible Vuelta a España ride. In 2024 Kämna’s Grand Tour responsibilities are likely to be enhanced with a co-leadership role the most plausible next step.

8. Andreas Leknessund
Team: Team DSM
Age: 24
Giro d’Italia highlight: Four days in the maglia rosa and a sustained GC ride.
Giro d’Italia report: Few pundits had Leknessund marked as a potential overall contender at the start of the race but the young Norwegian delivered a breakthrough performance. After taking the maglia rosa on stage 4 he wore pink for several days before slipping to sixth in the Cesena time trial. Logic suggested that the DSM rider’s GC hopes would falter soon after but the 24-year-stuck around through the second week and then maintained his presence right until the end, eventually dropping to ninth overall before rising a place in the final time trial. Granted, there were few GC riders left in the race who finished behind Leknessund but this was still a major result for a rider who can use the Giro as a launchpad.
What’s next? A move to Uno-X Pro Cycling Team is set for 2024 but the Tour de France this season has also been pencilled in.

7. Eddie Dunbar

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Eddie Dunbar in action at the Giro d'Italia

Team: Team Jayco AlUla
Age: 26
Giro d’Italia highlight: A constant presence in the mountains backed up by three resolute time trials.
Giro d’Italia report: After a four-year absence from the Grand Tour stage Dunbar made up for lost time with a highly commendable seventh place overall. Not only did the Irishman sweep aside the old adage that riders decline after leaving the Ineos stable but he reminded the Giro audience of the natural talent that first turned heads at the Rás and Tour de l’Avenir all those years ago. What made Dunbar’s Giro effort even more striking was the uncertainty over his form heading into the race after a less-than-ideal preparation. He may have dipped in the overall standings in the final few days, having at one point sat fourth overall, but this was still a resounding success for a rider who was regularly passed over at Ineos.
What’s next? In the short-term Dunbar will take a break before the team assesses his form and he returns to racing. A tilt at the Vuelta a España later this summer looks likely, with another top ten finish attainable.

6. Thymen Arensman
Team: Ineos Grenadiers
Age: 23
Giro d’Italia highlight: Combining super domestique duties with his continued individual progression.
Giro d’Italia report: Back in February the Dutch rider envisaged that he would be a backup leader should Geraint Thomas falter and while such a scenario failed to play out this was still an admirable outing for Arensman. He was unfailing in the mountains, and was instrumental in Thomas’s defence once Ineos were robbed of riders through illness and crashes. Along with De Plus, Arensman managed a number of difficult stages, while also maintaining a high result on GC. Sixth overall, while riding in the service of others can be interpreted in a number of ways but the fact remains that Arensman worked when he had just so happened to find himself in a better position than a number of GC riders.
What’s next? After back-to-back sixth places in Grand Tours, it’s only a matter of time before Arensman is entrusted with a slot at the Tour de France. 2023 comes too soon, however, and the more likely scenario is that the Dutch rider is handed a set of keys to the Ineos tour bus in 2024. At the very least he’s put forward the case for leadership over three weeks. That in itself is a highly creditable achievement in a team that isn’t exactly short of GC depth.

5. Thibaut Pinot

Team: Groupama FDJ
Age: 33
Giro d’Italia highlight: Lighting up the race at almost every opportunity.
Giro d’Italia report: Where to even start? In the grand scheme of Pinot-era Grand Tours this was relatively on par but the Frenchman still managed to shoehorn a mammoth amount of melodrama and magnificence into just three weeks of racing. A victory via the mountains jersey glossed over the near misses when it came to stage victories, but a fifth-placed finish in Rome was a genuine success for a rider who hadn’t cracked the top five since 2017. This was the archetypal Pinot performance, full of emotion, bravery and a douse of heartbreak too. That he rose from 13th to fifth over the course of the final three days deserves high praise.
What’s next? Surely Marc Madiot wouldn’t stand in Pinot’s way if the French rider decided to take one final stab at the Tour de France in July. He won’t win, he won’t podium but the chance of bowing out with either a memorable stage win or at least another do-or-die performance in the mountains would bring an element of excitement and verve to a race that otherwise could fall into the clutches of predictability. We’ll miss him when he retires at the end of the year.

4. Damiano Caruso
Team: Bahrain Victorious
Age: 35
Giro d’Italia highlight: Found his groove in the last week without troubling the podium.
Giro d’Italia report: Caruso was the very personification of consistency throughout the Giro d’Italia with his staying power in the mountains, coupled with his durability against the clock ensuring a solid if not spectacular fourth place finish overall. Caruso was rarely in the frame for anything higher than fourth but his experience shone through to help Bahrain to yet another teams classification win.
What’s next? Even though the Italian’s 36th birthday is on the horizon the rider’s stock as a stage race leader shows no sign of diminishing. He has already racked up four top-ten finishes in stage races this season, and with the Vuelta a España a possible target for the second half of the year the veteran will have another chance to shine. At the very worst he’s a super domestique for the remainder of his days in the peloton.

3. Joäo Almeida

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João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) leads home a group in the mountains

Team: UAE Team Emirates
Age: 24
Giro d’Italia highlight: A superbly taken maiden Grand Tour stage win at Monte Bondone.
Giro d’Italia report: After knocking on the door for several seasons Almeida finally delivered on his talent with his first Grand Tour podium. This was a performance that dovetailed the rider’s persistence, patience and proficiency over three weeks, with a ride that never saw him fall below fifth overall. Like Geraint Thomas, Almeida held his level for much of the second and third week, only slightly faltering at the last before being obliterated by Primož Roglič in the final time trial. This was still a major stepping stone for the Portuguese rider, who has certainly done enough to maintain his position as a Grand Tour leader within UAE’s ranks.
What next? A stab at the Vuelta later in the year has been pencilled in but a discussion over a Tour de France debut in 2024 cannot be too far away.

2. Geraint Thomas
Team: Ineos Grenadiers
Age: 37
Giro d’Italia highlight: A podium, two spells in pink and the dignified way in which he handled defeat.
Giro d’Italia report: After losing out to Primož Roglič’s unstoppable ride at Monte Lussari Thomas used his post-race interview to take a step back and wisely point out that after a difficult start to the campaign his second place in Rome still signified success. To take things a step further one could reminisce about how Thomas was almost deemed surplus to requirements as a Grand Tour leader by his own team at the start of 2022. His sterling podium in last year’s Tour was a timely reminder of his class but this Giro has provided further evidence of his longevity and importance to a team that remains in transition. At the Giro the Welshman was somewhere close to his very best, taking responsibility when it was required and then racing with maturity and calmness in a race that demanded both attributes. There was a slight crack on the final mountain stage before the floodgates opened on stage 20 but second to Roglič at the age of 37 was a monumental achievement in itself. Looking back at the three weeks there’s no point at which Thomas could look back and highlight a tactical misstep. He was simply beaten by a better rider, while the manner in which he handled defeat was arguably more inspiring than any of his more recent wins.
What next? A break and a few beers if Thomas’s colourful post-race comments were anything to go by but the Worlds and the Vuelta remain meaningful targets in a season that has much to offer the veteran. The Vuelta will be a hugely intriguing race, not just because it represents a podium opportunity, but because it also offers Thomas the chance to set up a possible leadership bid for next year’s Tour de France. All indications are that he has agreed to a contract extension for 2024, and with Ineos lacking a clear and present leader for July -  both for this year and next - Thomas could once more be the rider to take on that mantle. Can he win another Tour de France? Probably not but who on the current Ineos roster is a guaranteed podium finisher at present? No wonder those Remco Evenepoel rumours persist.

1. Primož Roglič

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Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) in the maglia rosa

Team: Jumbo-Visma
Age: 33
Giro d’Italia highlight: Winning the final time trial and taking the maglia rosa.
Giro d’Italia 2023 report: Three weeks ago Roglič looked off the pace and off the boil after a laboured opening time trial that saw him ship 43 seconds to Evenepoel. Fast forward to the Giro’s last time trial and Roglič was putting in a career-defining performance at Monte Lussari. There can be no doubt that over the three weeks, Roglič was the strongest rider left in this year’s Giro, and he timed his form perfectly. After an assured second week, he recovered from a minor blip at Monte Bondone to dismantle Thomas’ hopes over the space of two days. At Tre Cime di Lavaredo he put a handful of seconds into the Welshman, and while that proved to be relatively insignificant it certainly gave the Slovenian an air of momentum heading into the final time trial. The talk of La Planche des Belles Filles redemption has been somewhat overplayed - while nothing will make up for losing a Tour de France - Roglič’s career should never have been defined by one loss - there was certainly an element of cathartic liberty gained by the Slovenian as he raced toward a much-deserved maglia rosa. As the ever-excellent Kate Wagner wrote at the weekend for Escape, “Roglič has moved on from the caricature of trauma.”
What next? In the short-term, it’s all about aiming for a fourth Vuelta a España title but when it comes to 2024 so much depends on Jonas Vingegaard’s Tour de France defence. If the Dane wins a second title in as many years it’s hard to see Roglič being granted double billing as a team leader in July ever again. However, if Vingegaard falters then the off-season could well be dominated by speculation surrounding Jumbo-Visma’s leadership in 2024.