The Mexican phenom emerged as the sport’s future, but the romantic race provided a throwback to reward both patience and experience in a thrilling final weekend to the grand tour

Simon Yates won the Giro d’Italia after an epic climb from third place to race leader by a comfortable margin on Saturday’s decisive mountain stage. Yates, the 2018 Vuelta a Espana champion from Great Britain, overcame an 81-second deficit and took a 3:56 lead in the overall standings after 20 of 21 stages.

British rider Simon Yates has cruised to overall victory in the Giro d’Italia, finally winning the race that had eluded him so often.