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Denmark’s Michael Valgren secured his first Grand Tour stage win of the Giro d’Italia with a nail-biting 3km challenge to the finish line.
“This is for my son,” she said as she collapsed to the floor at the finish line of Stage 17, clutching a green model her son had made as a lucky charm.
The EF Education-EasyPost rider has made a long journey from a near-career-ending leg injury in 2022 to return to the top echelon of competitive cycling.
Valgren, 34, had a strong race across the 202km course at Andalo in the Italian Dolomites, finally launching a surprise attack just 1km from the finish line from a long and strong breakaway.
With the foot of the final on the line, Colombia’s Einar Rubio and Valgren lead the race, followed by Damiano Caruso, Spain’s fifth stage winner Igor Arrieta, Alexander Vlasov and Norway’s Andreas Leknesand Telling.
The 12-time Grand Tour veteran started with no response from the others and finished ahead of Leknesund (UNO-X Mobility) who was three seconds behind the winner. Caruso (Bahrain-winner) finished third behind the pair, six seconds behind Valgren.
Denmark’s Jonas Vingaard (Visma-Lijs A bike) comfortably holds the leader’s pink jersey after finishing in the peloton. Austria’s Felix Goll (Decathlon-CMA CGM) sits in second place, four minutes and three seconds behind Vinjegaard in the overall standings, with Thiemen Arensman of the Netherlands a further 24 seconds behind in third.
Valgren told TNT Sports: “Last year I had high hopes for a good result in this year’s competition so my son made me a Pokemon in team colors. It’s my lucky charm.
“It was really hard, I was really at my limit. I was lucky it wasn’t 5km long.
“I missed it on my resume – I’ve had a pretty good career but I needed this Grand Tour stage win. I’m really happy.”
