The American Brandon McNulty, of UAE Team Emirates, held off Ben Healy and Marco Frigo to win stage 15 of the Giro d’Italia, a 195km ride from Seregno to Bergamo.
McNulty turned on the afterburners with a perfectly timed sprint to race past Healy (EF Education-Easy Post) and Frigo (Israel–Premier Tech) in the final 100m to snatch victory, while Bruno Armirail of Groupama-FDJ retained the leader’s maglia rosa despite losing 33 seconds to second-placed Geraint Thomas.
“Indescribable. On the last long climb I tried to go. I thought my race was done there because Ben was so strong,” McNulty said. “I clawed back and rested and then we played games on the flats. In the end it came down to the last kick and the sprint.
“I knew [Frigo] was coming and he ended up coming just at the right moment because we could swing over. I caught the draught and then at 150-200 metres I just went for it.”
Healy finished second, ahead of Frigo, who appeared to drop off the pace but exerted a superhuman effort in the home straight to finish inches short of a stage win. “You never give up. I had really good legs. Of course the first two maybe had something else on me. I gave everything and they gave everything,” Frigo said.
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“The descent in the final gave me a chance to get back and I knew that. I played that, and that’s how it went. In those moments the head is gone, is spent, but you carry on pushing.”
A group of 15 riders, including former Giro d’Italia stage winner Alberto Dainese, built an advantage of over 6min 30sec after the category-one ascent in the first half of the race. Niccolò Bonifazio (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) attacked with just under 50km left, but was quickly reeled in with 35km to go by the trio of Healy, Frigo and McNulty, who never looked back.
Armirail, who took the overall lead on Saturday, had his gap to Thomas – of Ineos Grenadiers – reduced by 33 seconds to 1min 8sec. The race favourite Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) is third.
Monday is a rest day on the Giro before Tuesday’s stage 16, a mountainous 203km ride from Sabbio Chiese to Monte Bondone, with over 5,000m of climbing.
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Meanwhile, Mark Cavendish has called a press conference for Monday “to talk about the rest of the season,” his Astana-Qazaqstan team said on Sunday, fuelling speculation about his retirement.
Cavendish celebrated his 38th birthday on Sunday at the Italian race, and according to a report from Gazetta dello Sport, the sprinter will announce his plan to retire from racing at the end of the season.
The Olympic silver medallist, who joined the Astana squad earlier this year, has said he will seek one more stage win on the Tour de France to surpass Eddy Merckx, after equalling the Belgian’s record of 34 victories during the 2021 edition.