Richard Carapaz seals historic Giro d'Italia victory after Chad Haga stuns field to win stage 21 time trial

• Giro d'Italia stage 21: Full results and overall standings

• Team-by-team guide to the WorldTour season

Richard Carapaz sealed a historic victory at the Giro d’Italia, becoming Ecuador’s first ever grand tour winner.

The 26-year-old Movistar rider, a reported target for Team Ineos, was an outside bet at the start of the race in Bologna three weeks ago. But he began Sunday’s final day time trial in Verona in a commanding position, with a near two-minute advantage over home favourite and multiple grand tour winner Vincenzo Nibali [Bahrain-Merida].

Despite losing 51 seconds to the Italian over the 17km course, Carapaz won the maglia rosa by 1min5sec.

"This is the biggest moment of my sporting life, and it's hard to explain,” Carapaz said at the finish line. “I just suffered from start to finish until I reached the arena here in Verona."

Nibal beat Primoz Roglic [Jumbo-Visma] to second place, the latter bumping Mikel Landa [Movistar] off the podium by eight seconds thanks to his superior time trialling skills.

Nibali will now take on Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas in the Tour de France in July. The 34 year-old was philosophical in defeat, saying he had tried to go on the attack wherever possible. He credited Carapaz with riding a canny race, particularly his stage 14 win at Courmayeur.

“I tried to the very end but it was difficult to do much with Carapaz and [Movistar team mate] Landa so strong,” the 34 year-old said. “Carapaz raced smart and was also a bit of a surprise. Who really thought he could win the Giro at the start?

“People said we let him get away but that’s not the full picture. While all the big-name riders marked each other, he was quick-thinking and went on the attack at the right moment and in the right way. He had the legs to get away on the road to Courmayeur.”

Britain’s Vuelta a Espana winner Simon Yates [Mitchelton-Scott] finished eight overall after coming home tied for 23rd in Sunday’s final stage, 1min down on stage winner Chad Haga [Sunweb]. Yates had begun the race in confident fashion after wearing the pink jersey for 13 days last year, but was never in the mix.

Meanwhile, Tom Pidcock (Wiggins Le Col) added to his burgeoning reputation by becoming the first ever British winner of Paris-Roubaix U23. And Rachel Atherton won her 38th Downhill Mountain Bike World Cup title with victory in front of a home crowd at Fort William.

It was Atherton’s first win on the Atherton Bike she has designed herself with brothers and fellow mountain bike riders Dan and Gee.

4:49PM

Carapaz speaks . . .

“This is the biggest moment of my sporting life. In this final time trial I just suffered from start to finish until I reached the arena of Verona. It's fabulous to win the Giro d'Italia.”

As has stage winner Chad Haga: “This is my first WorldTour win but I started this morning believing strongly that I could win. I saved my legs these past few days. Watching Roglic and Nibali on TV, I had to convince myself that they were tired. It's a huge emotion. I'm speechless.”

4:27PM

The president tweets . . .

. . . as do the race organisers

4:10PM

Carapaz makes history: Ecuadorian wins Giro d'Italia

Richard Carapaz has done it! The young Ecuadorian has finished his final-day time trial way off the pace of stage winner Chad Haga, but that will not concern the Movistar rider or the legion of fans that are gathered in the open-air Verona Arena to cheer him over the line, victorious having won the Giro d'Italia. Vincenzo Nibali was runner-up to Carapaz while Primoz Roglic climbed to third overall after leapfrogging the overall race winners' team-mate Mikel Landa.

By the way, an awful lot of people are saying that Carapaz was a surprise winner and that nobody had predicted the Movistar rider would win. Here's something I wrote the week before the race started:

#justsaying

4:07PM

Haga wins stage 21

Chad Haga has saved Sunweb's Giro d'Italia at the last after the American wins the final stage, the 17km time trial in Verona. Bravo.

4:06PM

Nibali all but seals second place

Vincenzo Nibali(Bahrian-Merida) has finished his race, off the pace of Chad Haga but the Italian will keep hold of his second place on general classification. Richard Carapaz, meanwhile, was over 40sec down at the time split, but he has plenty of time to play with and will shortly win the Giro d'Italia.

4:04PM

Heartbreak for Landa

Mikel Landa falls short of the time set by Primoz Roglic, the Basque drops to fourth on general classification missing out on the podium by a matter of seconds.

4:00PM

Haga poised to win stage

Primoz Roglic completes his Giro d'Italia and finishes stage 21 in 22min 33sec, some distance behind Chad Haga (Sunweb) who is just minutes away from winning the biggest race of his career.

3:58PM

Landa edging it

Mikel Landa is 20sec down on Primoz Roglic at the time split, so is 3sec ahead of the Jumbo-Visma rider on the virtual general classification.

3:56PM

López seals white jersey

Miguel Ángel López (Astana) finishes in 23min 27sec, he keeps his white jersey as winner of the young rider classification.

3:53PM

Roglic labouring

Primoz Roglic is 15sec down on Chad Haga at the time split, but has gained 11sec on Mikel Landa. He may need to start taking a few risks on the second half of this course if he is to catch the Movistar rider.

3:49PM

Yates bows out

Simon Yates's race is over. He arrived bullish, but will leave disappointed but in the top 10 on general classification. The Briton finished in 23min 7sec, the 20th fastest on the day so far.

3:47PM

Carapaz looking pretty in pink

Richard Carapaz is rolling. The whole of Ecuador is watching this after president Lenín Moreno made sure the stage was made available for all to watch of free-to-air television. What a gesture from el presidente.

3:45PM

Nibali sets off

Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrian-Merida) is the next man down the starting ramp. Next up will be the maglia rosa. In around 25 minutes Richard Carapaz will be greeted by these Ecuadorian cycling fans when he becomes only the second south American, and the first from Ecuador, to win the Giro d'Italia.

3:42PM

Free Landa!

Mikel Landa(Movistar) now has his time trial under way. This is not his best discipline in the sport and he is fighting here for his third place on general classification. Can he pull something out of the bag, or will he drop to below Primoz Roglic?

3:38PM

Roglic launches himself

Primoz Roglichas set off. Can the Jumbo-Visma finish his Giro d'Italia just as he started, with a stage win? We should know in around 22 minutes.

3:35PM

Superman sets off to fly

Miguel Ángel López(Astana), the leader in the young rider classification, has his time trial under way. His nearest contender in that competition Pavel Sivakov (Ineos) is already out on the course, but with an advantage of 1min 53sec on the Russian has practically secured his white jersey.

3:31PM

Majka the Pole rolls

Rafał Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe) has just rolled down the starting ramp, he leads Simon Yates by just 33sec. Can the Pole keep hold of his seventh place on general classification, or could he even leapfrog Miguel Ángel López (Astana) into sixth, the Colombian leading him by 10sec?

3:26PM

Ciccone crowned king of the mountains

Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) has completed his time trial and has been confirmed as the winner of the mountains classification. Bravo. Hugh Carthy (EF Education First) is out on the road, as is fellow Briton Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott).

3:23PM

Zakarin rolling

Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha-Alpecin) has rolled down the starting ramp, his helmet looking a little haphazardly fitted. The Russian who started the day 10th on general classification, by the way, finished 13th and 53rd in the opening two time trials at this year's Giro, and 21st, 77rd and 51st is his previous three races against the clock. I think it's same to say, time trails are not his forte.

3:14PM

Ciao Fausto

Fausto Masnada has completed his Giro d'Italia, finishing stage 21 some distance off the pace: 23min 53sec, 1min 46sec slower than Chad Haga. Once over the finishing line the Italian rolled into the quite spectacular Verona Arena where he is greeted by the assembled fans and media.

3:08PM

Jungels bows out

Bob Jungels's disappointing Giro d'Italia has just ended and the Deceuninck-Quick Step rider was the ninth fastest on the day, completing his ride in 22min 51sec.

Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Merida) has completed his ride, too, finishing in 22min 16sec which is the fourth fastest on the day so far.

2:57PM

Go Fausto, go . . .

Fausto Masnada (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec), who starts the day in 20th place on general classification, has his time trial under way. The Italian has had a hugely impressive Giro d'Italia, winning one stage and making himself visible in the mountainous breakaways. Indeed, the 25-year-old won yesterday's la Cima Coppi award.

Very  much at the business end of today's stage now. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) will be both targeting the stage win  – the Slovenian has won the two other time trials in this year's Giro – and third place on general classification. As it stands, Roglic ​trails Mikel Landa (Movistar) by 23sec, and 1min 22sec behind second-placed Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrian-Merida) by 1min 22sec.

2:53PM

Jungels way off the pace

Bob Jungels (Deceuninck-Quick Step), who by his standards has had a lousy Giro d'Italia, is having another bad day at the office. The four-time Luxembourg national time trial was 33sec off the pace set by Chad Haga at the time split that comes 9.5km into the rolling 17km route. That's going to hurt.

2:49PM

De Gendt signs off in style

Ecuadorian cycling fans are out in their numbers today, waiting to cheer on their new national hero once the maglia rosa Richard Carapaz arrives in Verona Arena later on this afternoon.

Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal), meanwhile, has just set the third quickest time of the day.

2:37PM

Chaves is out on the course

Esteban Chaves is out on the course, as is Bob Jungels who in reality offers Deceuninck-Quick Step their best chance of winning a stage today. The Belgian squad have won a stage at every grand tour since 2015, but as yet have failed to do so this year after Elia Viviani was relegated from stage three following an illegal sprint.

2:32PM

Lobato the back-marker

Thus far, Juan José Lobato is the slowest rider of the day, the Spaniard finishing 17sec behind Nippo Vini Fantini Faizane team-mate Sho Hatsuyama.

2:29PM

Ludvigsson leapfrogs Cerny

Tobias Ludvigsson(Groupama-FDJ), the two-time Swedish time trail champion,  has managed to dislodge Josef Cerny after completing his ride by a few hundredths of a second quicker than the Czech.

2:08PM

Campenaerts put in the shade by Sunweb

Ok folks, so as mentioned below the slowest riders in the general classification have already ridden their time trials, with Sho Hatsuyama (Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane) more or less securing his virtual maglia nera ​– the black jersey that used to be handed to the slowest rider in the race, but was ditched after extreme measures were taken to ensure last place on general classification.

Anyway, that's not the real story of the day, but instead the big news is that pre-stage favourite Victor Campenaerts (Lotto-Soudal) set the quickest time of the day before, just minutes later, Chad Haga (Sunweb) overhauled the Belgian. The US rider was 1min 3sec slower than the world hour record holder during the stage nine time trial to San Marino so that is some turnaround and will be devastating news for Campenaerts .

1:51PM

Ciao, buongiorno . . .

 . . . and welcome to our live rolling blog from stage 21 of the 102nd edition of the Giro d'Italia, the 17km individual time around Verona. Today's race against the clock is the third and final time trial at this year's Giro and as you can see from the below profile, features a category four climb – Torricelle – at the midway point, the summit at which will be the only time split on the course . . .

. . . and here's a closer look at the climb:

Riders roll down the starting ramp in reverse order of their position on general classification, so the slowest rider set off first – Sho Hatsuyama (Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane), who started the day in 142nd, got his race under way at 12.45pm (BST), while the maglia rosa will be the last man to go off, at 3.45pm.

The early riders set off at one-minute intervals, that gap increasing to 3min once we reach the top 20 riders on general classification.

1:51PM

Where are we?

Here's a reminder of the route of this year's Giro d'Italia . . .

 . . . and here are the details of each and every stage at this year's race:

1:51PM

As it stands . . .

Here's what the standings look like in the general, points, mountains, young rider and team classifications after 20 days of racing.

• Stage 20 full results after Bilbao wins his second stage of Giro

1:50PM

The Cycling Podcast: re-cap of yesterday's stage

The penultimate day of the Giro d’Italia and the final mountain stage saw a minor shakeup of the overall classification, with Mikel Landa leapfrogging Primoz Roglic to occupy the final step of the podium. But with only a small deficit to make up, Roglic should be the rider to finish behind Richard Carapaz and Vincenzo Nibali in Verona later today.

Richard Moore and Daniel Friebe discuss the stage and there are interviews with Nibali and Roglic’s sports director, Addy Engels. The team also hear from two of the revelations of the race, Pavel Sivakov and Eddie Dunbar — and Sivakov gives us an eye witness account of an incident that led to Miguel Ángel López attacking a spectator.

• The Cycling Podcast is supported by Rapha and Science in Sport