No such thing as fleeting visit for Giro

Long transfers from stages at Grand Tours are nothing strange in the world of cycling but Sunday’s mammoth journey from Dublin to Bari was one of the longest — and logistically difficult — in the race’s recent history.

A distance of 2,756 kilometres separates the cities and while Team Sky’s Philip Deignan sprinted down Merrion Street in the Irish capital on Sunday afternoon at around 4pm in front of 50,000 rain-soaked fans, 24 hours later, on Monday’s rest day, he was out for a leisurely spin in Bari in the south-east corner of Italy.

Deignan said the transfer was six months in planning, and part and parcel of elite cycling.