Arnau Gilabert, in the top 20 of a demanding edition of Aosta

It is always an extreme race, but on this occasion it was even more so with four consecutive mountain finishes. The Giro del Valle d’Aosta concluded on Sunday at the foot of the Matterhorn with another high mountain stage in which multi-day leader David Joshua Golliker (FDJ) recovered from the loss of yellow from the day’s breakaway to win solo, while Irishman Darrell Rafferty (Axeon) sealed his overall victory. Arnau Gilabert, who would finish 6’43” behind the winner, 29th, gained one position in the final overall to finish 18th.

“My balance? I’d love to return to the Aosta Valley, but better on holiday. That’s my most immediate balance”, smiles Arnau on the way to the hotel. “Joking aside, it’s a very nice race in which we’ve seen how we’ve gone from less to more. The first two days I wasn’t at my level and those two days made me lose all my chances of a better classification in the final general classification”. Luca Bagnara finished 24th, 21’57” behind; Raúl López, 50th; Antonio González, 59th; and Sebastiano Minoia, 68th.