STORY: Tadej Pogacar takes Giro d'Italia race by largest margin in 59 years
SHOOTING TIME: May 26, 2024
DATELINE: May 27, 2024
LENGTH: 0:01:21
LOCATION: Rome
CATEGORY: SPORTS

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the 107th Giro d'Italia bicycle classic
2. various of award ceremony

STORYLINE:

Slovenian Tadej Pogacar on Sunday won the 107th Giro d'Italia (Tour of Italy) bicycle classic with the largest margin of victory the race had seen in nearly six decades.

Pogacar, riding for the UAE Emirates team, also won six of 21 stages in the race, the most for a single ride in more than 50 years.

The race, which finished in Rome, began on May 4 near Turin, in northern Italy.

Pogacar's overall time was 79 hours 14 minutes and 3 seconds over 3,400 kilometers (around 2,100 miles) in 21 separate stages. 

Colombian cyclist Daniel Martinez was a distant second in the race, finishing 9 minutes and 56 seconds behind Pogacar. Welsh rider Geraint Thomas was third, a further 28 seconds behind Martinez.

A Slovenian rider had never captured the Giro crown before 2023, but now Pogacar's victory has given the country two consecutive titles, following Primoz Roglic's narrow victory a year ago.

After the race, Pogacar -- who won the prestigious Tour de France in 2020 and 2021 -- said he would now turn his sights to the three-week French race, which will start on June 29. 

The first Giro d'Italia race was held in 1909. It's Europe's third Grand Tour event along with the Tour de France and Spain's Vuelta a Espana.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Rome.
(XHTV)