Ben Swift: It was the one of the hardest Grand Tours

British rider was seen on the front throughout Geraint Thomas's push for pink, and experienced the Giro's unrelenting pain

- Adam Becket, Tom Davidson

Ben Swift has raced nine Grand Tours, so is no novice to the difficulty of 21-day racing. However, this year’s Giro d’Italia has been one of the toughest the Yorkshireman has ever raced.

Asked if it’s the hardest, the Ineos rider said: “In terms of weather conditions, yes. It has been a bit of a strange race – we were waiting for it to kick off. It was a bit of a slow burn. The final week was hard.”

Over the first fortnight of the race, days with rain were much more common than days without. Flooding was such in the north of Italy that the Emilia Romagna F1 GP was cancelled. And in all this, a bike race carried on.

“It’s been pretty wet, but I’m from the UK so it’s not so bad,” Swift said. “The weather conditions affect people quite differently, and fortunately I’ve done quite well in it. It’s all about the mood and the atmosphere, and it’s quite depressing before you go out. It’s the same for everyone, and you’ve just got to get on with it.