On stage 20 of the Giro d'Italia, with less than two kilometers to go in Sestriere, Tao Geoghegan Hart rode alongside Jai Hindley, so close that their elbows almost touched, and Jacques Anquetil and Raymond Pridor's duel at the Puy de Dome in the 1964 Tour de France Jacques Godet's description of the two riders came to mind: "Their breath, their sweat, and the hairs on their jerseys mingled."

Hindley allowed himself a brief glance in the direction of Geohegan Hart. Over the previous kilometer, he had attacked Geohegan Hart three times, but each time the Englishman grimly returned to his wheel. Hindley accelerated twice more before the finish, but the stalemate persisted.

At the summit, Geoghegan Hart decided to sprint, and thanks to his stage win bonus, he tied Hindley in the overall standings.

Across the finish line, Hindley leaned against the barriers for what seemed like an eternity. The first Giro of the Social Distance era would be too close for comfort as the final day drew to a close.

"I wanted to see how he was doing, what his style was, if he was tired," said Gerard. 'I tried to shake him on the last climb, but unfortunately I couldn't overtake him. I want to commend him for the way he rode. He's a good friend of mine, so it's great to be racing with him and competing for the pink jersey."

Hindley started the race in second place overall, 12 seconds behind Sunweb teammate Wilco Kelderman and three seconds behind Geoghegan Hart. Kelderman's strategy was to follow Geoghegan Hart as far as he could, and he had expressed confidence beforehand that he would be better at the three climbs of the Sestriere than the dreaded Stelvio on Thursday. Instead, the stage became a replay of Stelvio's Tappone.

When Rohan Dennis paced Ineos Grenadier 4 km from the top of the final climb of the Sestriere, only Hindley and Geoghegan Hart could stay with him, and Kelderman fell.

On Thursday, Hindley's task was to follow Geoghegan Hart to the finish at Laghi di Cancano. Here, he lost more than a minute to Kelderman, Sunweb's only hope for the overall win. He downplayed the notion that he should have been given the freedom to launch a similar attack two days earlier.

"I have no regrets. If I had wanted to attack, I would have," Hindley said of the Stelvio stage. It was part of the plan. I followed the team's plan. We won the stage that day and got the pink. For me, it was a good day with the team. It had to turn out this way and I can't change it. I don't regret anything."

After 3,334.2 km, Hindley and Geoghegan Hart are tied in time, and the overall Giro winner will be decided in the flat time trial from Cernusco sul Naviglio to Milan on Sunday afternoon. Hindley took the Maria Rosa with 15.7 km to go, but Geoghegan Hart, who has a reputation for being a strong time trialist, is in position to take the time trial from Hindley in the shadow of the Duomo.

"I think he proved he can do time trials, but it's also the last day of a three-week race and anything can happen. You never know what your legs are going to be like when you wake up tomorrow morning." That's what I like about the Giro d'Italia. But for me personally, I'm going to die in the time trial to keep this jersey."

Hindley was more than two seconds per kilometer ahead of Geoghegan Hart in last week's time trial in Valdobbiadene. However, latecomers like Geoghegan Hart were affected by Sirocco, making it difficult to gauge their respective performances.

"I don't know if he went first there or later, but like I said, it doesn't matter," Hindley said.

"It's the last of a three-week Grand Tour and tomorrow I'm going to do the best time trial of my life. Whether he goes up or down in the time trial, I can only do what I can do. That's the great thing about time trials, you can't hide anything and it's a race of truth. After tomorrow, I think we will have a worthy winner of the Giro d'Italia."

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