Controversial sprint to end fantastic Giro won by Nibali

The Giro rolled into Turin today, the final act of the three week show piece. No threats to the pink jersey today, this one was for stage hunters, or sprinters more like...what's left of them. Gone are the Kittels and Greipels and so it was over to the secondary men to step out from their shadow and grab a little glory on the final day. Call it a watered down version of the final day of the Tour de France in Paris if you like. Some might say the Giro as a whole is a watered down version of the Tour, and that might be true in the sense that there was no Chris Froome, Alberto Contador, Nairo Quintana, Peter Sagan or Mark Cavendish, but it certainly isn't the case with regards to entertainment, good racing and edge of the seat action.

That isn't to say the Tour isn't all of that too, but the Giro certainly offers a race of its own that is just as worthy. It's for no reason beyond that of sponsor obligations, name status and perhaps prize money that some of those names I've just mentioned prefer to focus on the Tour more often than not (Contador and Quintana, the past two winners of the Giro respectively, being a slight exception).

Anyway, I digress. The stage indeed came down to a sprint with Giancomo Nizzolo finally getting his way, or so he thought. About half an hour after crossing the line with his arms aloft and yelling out in relief, the Italian was disqualified for changing his line and his victory handed to German Nikias Arndt.

All that was left was the pomp and ceremony and the presentation of that beautiful trophy to Nibali. An Italian winner...they certainly love that, and given how he went about fighting back in the Alps when it might have been easier for him to say he wasn't feeling right and abandon the race earlier in the week, you have to admire him. Some will maintain that Steven Kruijwijk deserved this Giro victory, but in a three week Grand Tour, the man who wears the race leaders jersey over the line on the final stage, tends to be the deserving winner.  It's not always the strongest who wins, but the one that negotiates the course the fastest. And that was Vincenzo Nibali.

2016 Giro d'Italia, final general classification:

1. Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) 2. Esteban Chaves (Orica GreenEdge) 3. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) 4. Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo) 5. Rafal Majka (Tinkoff) 6. Bob Jungels (Etixx - Quick Step)

in 86h 32' 49" @ 52" @ 1' 17" @ 1' 50" @ 4' 37" @ 8' 31"