Giro d'Italia: stage 21 updates as race concludes in Rome
Update:
Date: 2025-06-01T12:00:14.000Z
Title: Preamble
Content: It doesn't matter where Saturday's Stage 20 ranks in the pantheon of historic grand tour drama. Comparison being the thief of joy and all that. All we need worry about is that Simon Yates, of Team Visma–Lease A Bike, is about to win the Giro d'Italia after his astonishing climbing performance yesterday. All Yates needs to worry about, meanwhile, is crossing the finish line in one piece, in his shiny new maglia rosa, with his Visma-Lease A Bike teammates in tow.
Yates has been on the road in this gruelling race for 79 hours, 18 minutes and 42 seconds. Personally I have watched a grand total of zero seconds of that time, so I'm coming to this distinctly freddo. Feel free to email me with a concise summary of what's happened up to this point, so I can subsquently pretend to know what I'm talking about.
As for yesterday's excitement, you can read Tom Bassam's excellent report here:
Stage 21 start time: 2pm BST
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
29 minutes ago
- The Guardian
The Guardian view on the Conservatives and international law: a party trapped inside its own destructive obsessions
Kemi Badenoch's announcement of a Conservative party inquiry into a British withdrawal from the European convention on human rights (ECHR) should fool no one. The working party under the shadow attorney general, David Wolfson, announced on Thursday, will not look dispassionately at whether the UK should withdraw. It will merely try to say why and how. The policy of withdrawal itself is almost, to coin a phrase, oven-ready. This back-to-front policymaking process exemplifies the party's rudderless drift under Mrs Badenoch. Tory policy is not now in the hands of the leader or the shadow cabinet. It is in the hands of Reform UK and the opinion polls. Mrs Badenoch is a follower of events. Hers is the approach of someone still trapped in a party bubble which is consumed by the belief that withdrawal is the key to regaining the Conservatives' squandered popularity. This is nonsensical politics for the Tories. But it is also dangerous for Britain. The UK's long commitment to international law is a cornerstone of this country's soft power standing in the world. Labour's reassertion of this approach, with its clear signal to the world that Britain can again be trusted as a partner, has generated national benefits since the party returned to office last year. This does not mean that every aspect of international law (of which the ECHR is part) is unchallengeable or holy writ. The primary responsibility for the rule of law and for human rights is at the national level. The states that signed international covenants and treaties after 1945 'did not give an open-ended licence for international rules to be ever more expansively interpreted or for institutions to adopt a position of blindness or indifference to public sentiment in their member states'. Those words come from the current attorney general, Richard Hermer. They were part of his lucid and balanced lecture on security to the Royal United Services Institute last week. To judge by the fury it unleashed among the Daily Telegraph and Spectator writing classes, you might think that Lord Hermer had insisted that only lawyers like him could solve the world's conflicts and injustices, and that anyone who disagreed with him was a Nazi. Lord Hermer said no such things. Those who read his lecture will instead find an explicit attempt to depolarise the debate. He criticises as 'romantic idealists' those who treat international law as the reign of universal moral principle and who abhor all concession to nation-state interests. But he also denounced the 'pseudo-realists' who argue, amid the current unravelling of the post-1945 order, that nation-state interests can now take precedence over law. This, he said, was Russia's argument in Ukraine (he was too craven to mention that it is Donald Trump's philosophy of government too). British politicians drawn to this exceptionalist thinking in the name of realism risked committing 'deeply unserious acts in a deadly serious age'. To leave the ECHR would be just such an act. But its consequences would be desperately serious. It would give succour to authoritarian rulers on all continents. It would drain Britain's reputation for reliability again, as Brexit did. And it would achieve none of the goals in national security, criminal justice and migration control that its supporters imagine. Lord Hermer is right that serious problems can ultimately only be resolved through negotiations, driven by politics, which are then knitted together in laws that must be upheld. You cannot have one without the other.
Telegraph
37 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Zia Yusuf's departure is a blow to Reform
Zia Yusuf's resignation has cast further doubt over Reform's viability as a serious political party, rather than a vehicle for protest votes. In the 11 months since the General Election, Nigel Farage's party lost one MP to a defection, and now seen its Chairman resign in obvious exasperation after publicly criticising the party's newest MP. This will come as a welcome reprieve for Kemi Badenoch and the Conservative party as they attempt to redefine themselves in the wake of last year's election defeat. Sir Keir Starmer, too, will be relieved by the easing of pressure to his Right. For Reform, however, this is a serious blow. The party styles itself as the de facto Opposition and the government in waiting, yet its track record to date suggested that it could struggle to make the transition from protest to power. The question mark hanging over Reform was whether it could professionalise itself, find message discipline, bring in a lot more top level talent, contain the large personalities it has attracted, and present voters with a fully fleshed-out vision for governing Britain. Over the last year, the party has made stunning progress at the polls and appeared to be making strides towards meeting these developmental milestones. Yet yesterday's drama at the top of the organisation has underlined just how much work there is still to do. This may not matter too much in the short run, where Reform's status as repository for protest votes appears assured regardless of personnel turnover. Over the next four years, however, a reputation for infighting and turmoil could put a hard ceiling on Reform's ambitions. Mr Farage's statement on Mr Yusuf's resignation appeared to indicate that he recognised this; the Reform leader was conciliatory and credited Mr Yusuf's work as being a 'huge factor' in the party's local election success. His task is now to rapidly find a competent successor to continue the development of his party, and to show that he is capable of building and retaining a team which can maintain a united front. While there is a long wait for the next election, the public is crying out for change which Sir Keir's Labour party is evidently incapable of delivering. Ms Badenoch must use this window to demonstrate that she has the radical ideas necessary to fundamentally reshape Britain; Mr Farage, that he can build a professional team which can turn a protest party into one capable of governing.
The Guardian
39 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Crystal Palace's Europe place in balance after Uefa rejects owners' blind trust move
Uefa has rejected offers from Crystal Palace shareholders John Textor and David Blitzer to put their shares in a blind trust to ensure the club can compete in Europe next season. Palace's participation in the Europa League has been cast into doubt as the club's largest shareholder Textor is also the majority owner of Lyon, who have also qualified for the second tier competition. And to compound matters, Blitzer's Danish club Brøndy have qualified for the Conference League, so the prospect of the FA Cup winners dropping into that competition is also not an option due to the European governing body's multi-club rules. Palace executives, including Textor and chairman Steve Parish, met with Uefa officials in Nyon on Tuesday to try to broker a solution without reaching a resolution. The Guardian has learned that the so-called blind trust option in which Textor's Palace shares would be placed in the hands of trustees next season was rejected by Uefa, as the as the club missed the deadline for registering the trust. Manchester City and Manchester United both used blind trusts to ensure compliance with Uefa multi-club rules last season after their partner clubs, Girona and Nice, both also qualified for the Champions League and Europa League respectively, while Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis also transferred his shares when Nuno Espirito Santos' side and his Greek club Olympiacos looked on course to qualify for next season's Champions League. Uefa rules state that such ownership changes must take place before 1 March to take effect in time for the following season, however, with Palace told this week that they will not be shown any flexibility. European qualification was not on the agenda for Palace before March, as they were mid-table in the Premier League and had not progressed beyond the FA Cup fifth round. Palace are in danger of paying a heavy price for their lack of foresight, leading to considerable frustration at Uefa's lack of flexibility. Uefa declined to comment, but sources at the European governing body stressed that given more than 300 clubs take part in its competitions each season, it has to ensure that the regulations are applied consistently. Textor told the Daily Mail after Tuesday's meeting that he is looking to sell his 45% stake in Palace, but there is little realistic prospect of that happening in time to influence Uefa's decision, with the Europa League qualifying draw due to take place on 17 June. Just three weeks ago on the eve of the FA Cup final, The Guardian revealed that Textor was seeking to buy out fellow American shareholders, Blitzer and Josh Harris, who own 36% of the club between them. The two parties have previously held on-off talks about buying each other out, but have never got close to an agreement on price. Textor also signalled his intention to sell Palace when he was attempting to buy Everton last summer without making any discernible progress. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion With a quick sale and the transfer of shares seemingly off the table, Palace's best hope of playing in the Europa League for the first time appears to be persuading Uefa that Textor has no influence at Selhurst Park, although this may not be straightforward. In addition to his 45% stake Textor has 25% equal voting rights with Parish, Blitzer and Harris, and is known to have played a key role in the appointment of the manager Oliver Glasner last year. Textor has declined to comment. Uefa rules make clear that any influence at two clubs in the same competition is prohibited. 'No one may simultaneously be involved in any capacity whatsoever in the management, administration, and/or sporting performance of more than one club participating in a Uefa club competition,' the regulations state. 'No individual or legal entity may have control or influence over more than one club participating in a Uefa club competition, (including) holding a majority of the shareholders' voting rights; having the right to appoint or remove a majority of the members of the administrative, management or supervisory body of the club; being a shareholder and alone controlling a majority of the shareholders' voting rights pursuant to an agreement entered into with other shareholders of the club; or being able to exercise by any means a decisive influence in the decision-making of the club.' In the event of Palace being barred from the Europa League, Forest could be promoted to take their place after qualifying for the Conference League by finishing seventh in the Premier League. Palace's rivals Brighton, who finished eighth, could then replace Forest in the Conference League. Palace's European position is under threat rather than Lyon's, as Uefa rules state that the club ranked highest in its domestic championship will be given entry to the competition. Lyon's sixth-place finish in Ligue 1 gives them precedence over Palace, who came 12th in the Premier League.
