“It was a very nice day for me” - Antonio Tiberi strengthens grip of White Jersey and closes gap on top-4 at the Giro d'Italia on stage 17

In a dramatic final climb on stage 17 of the 2024 Giro d'Italia, Bahrain - Victorious' Antonio Tiberi continued to impress in his first career general classification challenge.

“It was a very nice day for me,” reflected the 22-year-old Italian in his post-stage interview, having gained time on his main rival in the Best Young Riders Classification, Thymen Arensman and the man above him in the general classification, Ben O'Connor on the summit finish at Passo Brocon. Georg Steinhauser was the stage winner, holding on from the breakaway, as Tadej Pogacar put yet more time into all his GC 'rivals' moving nearly eight minutes clear of second place.

“I rode well on the final climb and my legs felt very good," continued Tiberi, reflecting positively of his showing on the final climb. "I therefore tried to get more time on Arensman and Ben O'Connor. We started the final climb among the favourites with INEOS Grenadiers in the lead, which was already going very fast. Then Tadej started attacking," he laughs.

As has been the case throughout the 2024 Giro d'Italia, when Pogacar attacks, no one was able to match the Slovenian with the rest of the contenders fighting amongst themselves and watching the Maglia Rosa fly up the road to more inevitable time gains.

“At first we tried to follow him, but the pace was too high for me, and also for Daniel Martínez and Geraint Thomas. I did attack afterwards, especially when I saw that O'Connor and Arensman had been dropped," concludes Tiberi. "Then I rode the last 600, 700 meters at full throttle to gain more seconds.”