UAE Team Emirates rider Valerio Conti completed the Giro d'Italia a "satisfied" man after finishing fourth in the final youth standings.
Conti, 25, completed the Giro d'Italia in 90 hours, 25 minutes and 43 seconds to earn a place in the top five in the race for the Maglia Bianca - the tour's white jersey awarded to the fastest young rider. Colombian Astana Pro Team rider Miguel Angel Lopez Moreno won the jersey with a time of 89:07:36.
Conti, now in his second season with UAE Team Emirates, first proved his pedigree in Italy during the opening stage's inidividual time trial where he placed 12th overall. The Italian excelled again in Stage 5, crossing the line with the general classification contenders.
It was fantastic to end the @giroditalia in such a great city like Roma. #UAETeamEmirates #Giro101 pic.twitter.com/Z6VECMB2VE
— @UAE-TeamEmirates (@TeamEmiratesUAE) May 27, 2018
“It was a good experience to compete in my third Giro d’Italia and I am satisfied with the overall result," Conti said following the tour's conclusion on Sunday.
"The quality of riders at this year’s race was extremely high, with a number of young riders also competing for the General Classification – so it was always going to be a difficult jersey to win. I’m hoping to learn from this tour and deliver the results for the team and our sponsors.”
The overall Giro d'Italia was won by British Team Sky rider Chris Froome, who completed the tour in 89:02:39, 46 seconds ahead of 2017 champion, Dutchman Tom Dumoulin of Team Sunweb.
Victory was Froome's sixth grand tour title and made him the first cyclist in 35 years to hold all three grand tour titles, following his wins last year at the Tour de France and Vuelta a Espana.