Mikel Landa did enough to secure 3rd in the GC on the final ITT in Verona, as Bahrain Victorious defended the best team prize in the Giro d’Italia.
After a hard week of racing, Landa sat 26 seconds behind second-place Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) and didn’t have the legs to close it further after his efforts atop Marmolada.
Pello Bilbao also put on an impressive fight in the GC, finishing in the top five, battling through bruises after a crash on Stage 9.
Landa has now made the podium twice at the Giro and is happy with his overall performance.
He said, “Today I had a big margin in the time trial and in the beginning I thought I could try something to gain time to second place, but that did not happen.
“It’s been a special Giro. We have been waiting for the last week, and it’s been hard to make big gaps until the last day. This is my second podium here at the Giro. The first was a bit unexpected, but now I know I can keep up with the strongest guys.
“We had a great team here, and it shows by winning the best team classification and Pello finishing in the top five in GC.”
Bahrain Victorious has now won the last three team classifications in Grand Tours with strength in depth across the team. Performance director Vladimir Miholjević said, “I’m super happy and proud. It’s actually our 6th Grand Tour podium in six years of existence as a team. This one was really special as the team was on a level, and we were the best team in the race. We came here with a goal to win the Giro, and we won as a team and 3rd and 5th in the GC.
“We also came 12th with Santiago, who also won a stage. We are already looking forward, and we want to win a Grand Tour. This team is made to win a Grand Tour, and we are close”.
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