Wilco Kelderman got off his bike and unzipped the pink jersey that was no longer his. He leaned back for a moment with one hand on the saddle and the other on the stem. Then he walked gingerly over to congratulate his Sunweb teammate, Jai Hindley.

While Hindley remained vigil near the finish with Sunweb's soigneur and press representative, Kelderman got on his bike and turned around again after about 100 meters. Confused and discouraged, he did not seem to know where to go, but he was acutely aware that his presence on the podium was not needed.

He returned to Hindley. After congratulating his teammate again, Hindley accepted the jacket from Soignier, zipped it up over the maglia rosa, and headed down the course in the vague direction of the team bus.

"I'm a little disappointed that I didn't make it to the end, but I'm proud to be on the podium and I hope that Jai can make it to the end tomorrow and we can do really well as a team," Kelderman said later.

Kelderman started the final stage of the Giro with a 12-second lead over Hindley and a 15-second lead over Tao Geoghegan Hart (Ineos Grenadiers). Despite Thursday's hardship in Stelvio, he was bullish about the prospects of defending his lead on the more comfortable slopes heading into Sestriere. His popularity seemed to be confirmed by the huge influx of Dutch journalists in the Giro press room during the final week.

The task for the Dutchman seemed easier with the removal of Aniello and Isolde from the route after the French closed the border to the Giro due to the coronavirus outbreak, but the triple climb of the Sestriere was the only way to get to Kelderman for the final time trial in Milan. It proved to be an effective substitute for Ineos, whose stated goal for the day was to close the distance.

Like Stelvio, Rohan Dennis took the reins on the final climb and made a tremendous surge 4km from the summit. Kelderman still had 30km of downhill to go, where he would try to make up for his loss, but he also knew he would have to climb the same climb again and face the same onslaught. He was already racing in a jersey that did not belong to him.

"It was as expected," Kelderman said on the team bus in Sunweb about an hour after the stage. 'I had a plan to deal with it up front. Jai was able to keep up well enough, but I wasn't. It was the same as the Stelvio stage. Two of the best climbers were in front of me."

Geoghegan Hart overtook Hindley at the finish to take the stage win, and the same two riders will compete for the overall win in Milan on Sunday afternoon. Hindley will start this stage on the Maria Rosa, but the two are on the same time. This 15.7km test will decide who wins the entire Giro

Meanwhile, Kelderman and his chase group were a minute behind the leading group at the base of the final climb of the Sestriere, with the gap widening to 1:50 with 6km to go. Detuning Quick-Step made a spirited pursuit and closed the gap quickly. But soon after, Joao Almeida accelerated with purpose from the pack, and Kelderman was unable to follow.

"I certainly didn't give up, but I know that at some point you have to switch gears and go for the podium. 'It doesn't make sense to be fifth in the Giro after atrophying against Dennis in the valley. This was simply the best possible result."

Kelderman arrived at the summit in eighth place, 1:35 behind, and in third place in the overall standings, 1:32 behind Hindley and Geoghegan Hart.

"I'll go full throttle in the TT, but I don't think it will be bad enough to make 1:30.

Kelderman, who will join Bora-Hansgrohe in 2021 after winning the Maglia Rosa at Laghi di Cancano on Thursday, regretted that Sunweb did not ask Hindley to stay with him instead of tracking Geoghegan Hart. On Saturday, he acknowledged that he could understand the team's reasoning, but still felt that.

"I don't know if it made a difference in the end. Maybe neither of us would have fought for the win. I think we could have won in a good way." Jai can win the Giro, and that's really cool for the team."

Sunweb sport director Luke Roberts defended Sunweb's strategy, but Geoghegan Hart is favored to beat Hindley in Milan on Sunday based on past results.

"We had the advantage before the two big mountain days, but the way Ineos was running, we needed to keep Jai in contention to stay in contention," Roberts said.

"Yeah, I was a little surprised it was so fast, I thought the second climb would open it up and it completely blew up. Wilco still ran a good race. Jai was the only one who could keep up with Tao and Rohan, so I had to keep him in contention."