It was May 25, 2018, when Chris Froome wrote one of the most exciting pages in cycling. That Giro stage, starting from Venaria Reale and arriving in Bardonecchia, saw the white Kenyan seemingly too far from the podium, because he was 3'22" behind the pink jersey Simon Yates, and just under 2 minutes from Dumoulin, who had won the Giro the previous year.

That day, however, Froome wrote history, arriving in Bardonecchia first with a 40" advantage over the Dutchman and 4'17" over Pinot. The race ignited 80 kilometers from the finish, when before the gravel road, Yates threw in the towel and the crisis that everyone had begun to see a few kilometers earlier on the white road became a certainty. That day, Puccio was with Froome and worked tirelessly to raise the pace and put other teams in difficulty: once Puccio's work was done, the white Kenyan took care of the rest, launching one of his incredible attacks. The Colle delle Finestre was the Cima Coppi of the Giro, between Val di Susa and Val Chisone. There are 45 hairpin turns, 16 of which are on gravel, a climb that can lead to the Olympus of the greatest, but also to the hell of the damned.

Froome that day knew his was a crazy mission, he had only two possibilities: win or die. The attack came precisely 80.3 km from the finish, 600 meters after the start of the 7.8 km gravel section. An incredulous audience watched two hours and 23 minutes of what was defined as a masterpiece of modern cycling, drawn in the land of great cyclists, the region that many call the region of Champions, namely Piedmont.

The Briton transformed into a tyrant on the Colle delle Finestre and in Bardonecchia had given 3'23" to Dumoulin and 8'28" to Pozzovivo. While Yates, destroyed and in tears, arrived 38'51" later. After two kilometers of climbing, he had 9", after 3 kilometers 30", and at the Cima Coppi of Colle delle Finestre (2178 meters) 41". Some thought he would be caught on the descent, but that didn't happen and in the 17 km descent towards Pragelato at 85 km/h, he continued to gain on his rivals. In the descent, he gained 1'03" on Dumoulin, Pinot, Lopez, and Carapaz. In the 11 km climb towards Sestriere, he increased by 1', climbing at an average of 23 km/h on 6% gradients. 35 km from the finish, he became the virtual pink jersey. In the 40 km of long descent and flat road to Bardonecchia, he was faster than the 5 chasing him, taking another 40", arriving 3'25" ahead 6 km from the finish.

Statistically speaking, what happened in 2018 was truly unique, but in the 4 times the pink race has passed through Colle delle Finestre, something incredible has always happened. We saw it in 2005 with Simoni and Savoldelli, then in 2011 with Nibali, Contador, and Scarponi, and then in Froome's year. Even today, Colle delle Finestre could write a new story. The gaps in the general classification are still small, and crises can cost minutes, not seconds. If Carapaz, with Bernal and Yates, have the legs, then today too, Colle delle Finestre could become the judge, awarding victory to the strongest and most courageous rider.