The dreaded third week. How often has the fear of those brutal final mountain stages frozen the race, stifling any attacking intent or imagination in the days before? More often than not. The risk of burning too much energy in the opening phases of the Giro – only to pay for it in the decisive final days – has always weighed heavily on the riders’ minds.
Some riders have truly turned energy conservation into the winning formula for their Giro, while others, by constantly focusing on the third week, have missed key opportunities to drop their rivals and ultimately lost the Maglia Rosa.
The best example couldn’t be more recent as it comes from defending champion, Simon Yates. In 2018, the Brit lost a Giro he had dominated, cracking on the penultimate stage over the Colle delle Finestre after going all-in across the previous 18 stages and simply running out of fuel too soon.
In 2025, he won it by doing the exact opposite: almost invisible until the penultimate day – until, once again, the Colle delle Finestre (sometimes cycling has distinct a sense of irony…). All it took was one sharp, decisive, race-winning attack to take the Giro.
There are also those who, perhaps through caution and fear of the third week, ended up losing a Giro. Because more often than not, it’s not the whole third week – but a single stage – that truly decides the race.
In 2022, Richard Carapaz seemed content just to hold the Maglia Rosa. He saved, and saved, and saved, but Jai Hindley had saved even better. On the Marmolada, after a rather uneventful third week, the Australian dropped the Ecuadorian and went on to claim the Trofeo Senza Fine.
A similar story unfolded in 2023. Geraint Thomas failed to capitalise on Primož Roglič’s lack of sharpness in the early stages, allowing the Slovenian to stay within reach. In the third week, neither rider truly committed to attacking, and everything came down to the uphill time trial on Monte Lussari, where Roglič took the Maglia Rosa from the Briton.
In 2021, Egan Bernal built his victory in the opening part of the Giro, then rode defensively in the final week. And it’s hard to compare that with Tadej Pogačar’s dominance in 2024, when he controlled the race from the second stage all the way to the finish. Richard Carapaz himself, back in 2019, made his winning move mid-race – and then simply managed his advantage through the third week.
The two editions where the third week – as a whole, not just a single stage – truly proved decisive were 2016 and 2020.
In 2016, accumulated fatigue broke down Nibali’s rivals, while the Italian came back to life in the final days after a difficult Giro, completely overturning the general classification. The Italian had been 2’51” down on Maglia Rosa Steven Kruijswijk.
The 2020 edition was one of the most chaotic and unpredictable in recent years, not only because of the shadow of Covid, but also because Tao Geoghegan Hart and Jai Hindley emerged precisely in the final days, after going largely unnoticed for nearly two weeks. First the big favourites cracked – veterans Nibali and Jakob Fuglsang – then Maglia Rosa João Almeida, and finally Wilco Kelderman.
Every Giro tells its own story. There are no fixed rules. The third week is usually the hardest and offers more opportunities to attack – but at the same time, after it, there is no tomorrow. If things go wrong, there’s no chance to recover.
Legs, tactics, recovery, timing… Grand Tour victories are built step by step, day by day. Any moment can be the decisive one – and maybe that’s exactly why we can’t wait for the next Giro.
