When it comes to Grand Tour design, few topics spark more debate than time trials. Back in the ’80s and ’90s, the race against the clock often proved decisive, resulting in huge gaps and GC shake-ups. Today, with fewer kilometres and more balanced differences between specialists and climbers, its impact has changed. But one thing remains: in a time trial, there’s nowhere to hide. No tactics, no teammates, just the rider and a timer. And sometimes, a handful of seconds can still decide a Giro.
We looked at the last ten editions of the Giro to understand just how decisive time trials have been in the fight for the Trofeo Senza Fine.
In 2016, setting aside the short opening ITT in Apeldoorn, the race featured the 40.5 km Chianti time trial and the 10.8 km uphill test to Alpe di Siusi. The eventual winner Vincenzo Nibali gained 1’35” on Esteban Chaves in Tuscany, only to concede 1’30” to the Colombian in the mountain time trial. As is often the case, the uphill ITT seemed set to shape the general classification – but that Giro was ultimately decided elsewhere. The race exploded in the final days: Maglia Rosa Steven Kruijswijk, impressive in both time trials, crashed on the descent of the Colle dell’Agnello, opening the door for Nibali’s comeback. The Italian went on to win the Giro by 52” over Chaves. In the end, the clock didn’t decide the race – but it set the stage for one of the most dramatic finales of the past decade.
A very different story in 2017, the year of Tom Dumoulin. Against the clock, the Dutchman built his victory. Across two time trials – Foligno–Montefalco (39.8 km) and the final Monza–Milan (29.8 km) – he gained 3’01” on Vincenzo Nibali and 4’17” on Nairo Quintana. The climbers never managed to recover that time in the mountains. Dumoulin won the Giro by 31” over Quintana and 40” over Nibali—clear proof of how decisive those efforts were.
In 2018, Chris Froome took overall victory, but his Giro was decided not in the time trials, but with his legendary attack over the Colle delle Finestre. In the Trento–Rovereto ITT (34.2 km), he gained only 1’02” on Simon Yates, who remained firmly in the Maglia Rosa at that point.
The 2019 Giro both started and ended with time trials – the San Luca uphill test and the traditional finale at the Arena di Verona – but neither proved particularly decisive. The key test in between, the 34.8 km Riccione–San Marino ITT, mainly served to ignite the rivalry between Primož Roglič and Vincenzo Nibali, rather than shaping the race for the eventual winner Richard Carapaz, who actually lost 1’55” to the Slovenian. Instead, the Ecuadorian capitalised on the tactical stalemate between the two favourites in the days that followed.
The 2020 edition told a completely different story. Not only was it raced in October, but it also brought two unexpected contenders to the fore: Tao Geoghegan Hart and Jai Hindley. The two arrived at the final time trial in Milan (15.7 km) level on time, turning it into a straight duel. The Briton gained 39” on the Australian and claimed overall victory.
And it wasn’t just about the final day. Earlier, in the Conegliano–Valdobbiadene ITT (34.1 km), when neither rider was yet considered a real GC contender, Geoghegan Hart had already taken 1’15” out of Hindley. Add the two efforts together, and the Giro was effectively decided against the clock.
In 2021, time trials played only a marginal role: just 38.9 km in total, placed in the opening stage in Turin and the final one in Milan, with the race already decided and Egan Bernal firmly in the Maglia Rosa.
A very similar scenario unfolded in 2022, with only 26.6 km of time trials. Jai Hindley secured overall victory over Richard Carapaz thanks to a decisive performance in the mountains – above all on the Marmolada – rather than against the clock.
Time trials returned to centre stage in 2023, in a tightly controlled head-to-head between Primož Roglič and Geraint Thomas. The first ITT, Savignano sul Rubicone–Cesena (35 km), created only minor gaps, with Remco Evenepoel taking the stage win and the Maglia Rosa before being forced to abandon due to Covid.
Roglič and Thomas settled everything on the final uphill time trial to Monte Lussari – 18.6 km of pure intensity that delivered the Slovenian his long-awaited Giro victory.
The following year, in 2024, Tadej Pogačar didn’t need the clock – despite winning the Foligno ITT – to blow the race apart. And in 2025, the decisive move came on the Colle delle Finestre, where Simon Yates dropped Isaac Del Toro and Richard Carapaz, in a Giro once again shaped far more by the mountains than by the time trials.
