Tuesday 31 May 2016 11:05, UK
Vincenzo Nibali dramatically snatched overall victory on the final mountain stage as the 2016 Giro d’Italia went right down to the wire.
Here, we rate the top six out of 10…
Final position: 1st.
He may have won the Giro thanks to exceptional performances on stages 19 and 20, but there can be no denying that Nibali's race was a long way from perfect.
From his woefully misjudged attack on stage six to his slump on stages 14, 15 and 16, the Italian's passionate and loyal fans had to endure a lot of disappointment over the past three weeks.
The bare fact is a better Nibali could have wrapped up overall victory long before he belatedly did.
Final position: 2nd, +52sec.
Chaves hadn't ridden a grand tour this time two years ago, so to have come within a stage of winning one at just his fourth attempt is some achievement.
He climbed well throughout, won a stage and although he lost the lead to Nibali on stage 20, his second place is still the best result of his stage racing career.
The only area of criticism was his time-trialling. He surrendered a total of 1min 46sec to Nibali on stage one and nine's individual time trials, which were effectively race-losing performances.
Final position: 3rd, +1min 17sec.
Valverde was arguably the most consistent of the overall contenders.
Like Chaves, he was almost always competitive on the climbs, won a stage and performed particularly well in stage 15's uphill time trial.
But his race unravelled on a disastrous 19th stage, when he lost 2min 14sec to Nibali after suffering with the high altitude of the 2,744m high Colle dell'Agnello.
Final position: 4th, +1min 50sec.
Kruijswijk rode the first 18 stages pretty much perfectly and looked so imperious that it seemed inevitable he would win.
He barely looked out of breath on the climbs, let alone in danger of being dropped, and produced a magnificent performance on stage 15's uphill time trial.
But then one minor lapse in concentration on the descent off the Agnello on stage 19 undid all his excellent work. He crashed into a wall of snow and dropped from first overall to third, and then fell to fourth the next day as he continued to struggle with his injuries.
Still, it was a fine performance that he should be proud of.
Final position: 5th, 4min 37sec.
Majka leaves the race with another top-five grand tour finish to his name, but in truth, he was never a factor in the battle for the pink jersey.
He was a follower rather than an aggressor in the mountains and was only average in the time trials.
Given that he finished third in a highly competitive Vuelta a Espana last year, this Giro has to be viewed as a step back for the Pole.
Final position: 6th, +8min 31sec.
Jungels was arguably the best rider in the race. Still only 23 years old, he climbed with the likes of Nibali and Chaves in the mountains, finished in the top 10 in all three time trials, wore the pink jersey for three days and even placed fourth in a sprint. There was nothing he didn't do brilliantly.
His final position of sixth far exceeded expectation and while few people regarded him as a potential grand tour winner of the future before the Giro, plenty do now.
