The Giro d’Italia has finished in Rome five times in its history, 2024 will mark the sixth. However, the Corsa Rosa had never organised its closing day in the Italian capital on two consecutive editions. Back in 2023, the eternal city crowned Primož Roglič with the Trofeo Senza Fine, but equally applauded 38-year-old Mark Cavendish after watching him sprint past the Imperial Forum. He, who in 2020 seemed to be at a career standstill and instead managed to give himself a few more years of satisfaction.
The eternal Cavendish won in the Eternal City, in one of those endings that seem to have come straight from the pen of a great author. In the last Giro of his career, the Isle of Man champion fired the last cannonball at the very last opportunity (it was the only victory of his season), triumphing by three bike-lengths over all his rivals, as we had seen him do so many times in his previous 16 victories at the Corsa Rosa.
In 2008 he won in Catanzaro and in 2023 he won in Rome, no one like him has ever had such a wide margin between his first and last victory. Not only that, at 38 years and 7 days, Cavendish also became the oldest rider ever to win a stage at the Giro.
FOLLOW THE SIGNATURE’S CHECK LIVE OF STAGE 21 OF THE GIRO D’ITALIA 2024 HERE.
