Giro d'Italia favourites' distancing from pink jersey sees Bruno Armirail enter decisive week in race lead

Conservative and tactical racing has so far marked the 2023 Giro d'Italia, entering the final week the pink jersey has changed hands four times and Bruno Armirail who is not a contender for the overall classification begins the final week in the lead.

A combination of poor weather and a brutal final week has partially led to this type of racing, and many GC riders have set sights on the final stages of the race, opting to conserve as much until then. After winning the opening time-trial, that is why Remco Evenepoel and Soudal - Quick-Step opted not to chase on stage 4, where from a breakaway Andreas Leknessund jumped into the race lead.

After a daring ride on stage 8, the Norwegian would eventually lose it the day after as Evenepoel rode to another stage win in the second time-trial of the race. However that same night he tested positive for Covid-19, with Geraint Thomas - then second in the overall classification, took over the lead of the Giro d'Italia, however with a mere two seconds of lead over Primoz Roglic.

Seeing the opportunity to get a few more hours of rest and have INEOS Grenadiers away from the head of the peloton, INEOS decided on stage 14 to let the breakaway get a mammoth lead, and Bruno Armirail who started the day over 18 minutes away from the pink jersey became the new race leader, which he kept despite the late attacks on stage 15.

Armirail enters stage 16, the first day of the final week of the Giro, with a 1:08-minute lead over Geraint Thomas. Here, it is expected that the jersey will change hands once again, but with second, third and fourth in the overall classification separated by only 22 seconds at the time being and looking very balanced uphill, it will make room for tight racing in the final week.