It’s not often that a Grand Tour ends with an individual time trial. The reasons both for and against are strong. For: Drama, potentially up to the moment the pink jersey crosses the finish line. Against: No great procession of the many riders who just want to get to the finish, not suffer another hard stage. For: A potential shakeup in the General Classification. Against: A more limited celebration.
There are plenty of reasons not to discuss the 2009 Giro d’Italia. Oxygen vector doping was still rampant, with some riders able breathe on the moon. However, there is one very, very good reason to look back on the 2009 Giro: Race leader Denis Menchov crashed in the rainy final stage time trial. In second place on G.C. and wearing the ciclamina (purple to the rest of us) points jersey was Danilo Di Luca. Di Luca was handsome as only an Italian can be and beloved as only an Italian can be in Italy. At the beginning of the stage, Menchov, a Russian, seemed to have the race in the bag, but it was raining, and rain plus time trial bikes = shredded skinsuits. The entire cycling world held their breath as we waited for Menchov to stand up and get on his bike. On a par with Greg LeMond’s 1989 win in the Tour.