Aussie Chris Harper Takes Penultimate Stage at Giro d’Italia

It was almost midnight when Chris Harper finally got to his hotel room in Rome on Saturday night, his mind still buzzing but his body exhausted and looking for bed. 

In between winning the biggest race of his life on Italy’s famed Colle delle Finestre that afternoon and making it to Rome, there were two bus transfers, dinner at the airport and a 50-minute flight which gave him time to reflect on what had just happened. 

Harper – who fell in love with cycling as a kid by watching the Santos Tour Down Under go past his house in Aldgate in the Adelaide Hills – won his maiden Grand Tour stage in the Giro d’Italia at the age of 30. 

And not just any old stage, but a solo attack on the queen stage of the Giro which included a dirt road climb 2100m above sea level, and which commentators declared would be talked about “for decades to come”. 

“It was pretty late by the time we got to the hotel but we went downstairs with the riders and four of the staff and had a beer to celebrate,” said Harper, who rides for Australian team Jayco-Alula. 

“I got to my room at about 11.30-12 so was pretty tired, but on the bus ride I had time to read a few messages from people and reflect a bit. 

"I've always had a tricky run with the Giro. The first year I did it we pulled out because our leader got Covid, then the second year I had an injury with my eye and wasn't able to start, and the year after I did a three-week altitude camp, flew back to Barcelona and tested positive for Covid so never started that year too. 

"So I've definitely had an interesting relationship with the race. 

"I've had a few challenges this time as well, I came here with ambitions to go for a GC result and ended up crook and on antibiotics. 

"The second week was pretty rough and I didn't have the good sensations until yesterday. But you just continue to try even though you don't think it's going to work, which makes it pretty sweet now.” 

Harper found his love for cycling by watching the Tour de France on TV and the Santos Tour Down Under go past his family home in Aldgate. 

“The first year I got into riding was the year Will Clarke went solo in 2012, and I remember the stage,” he said of the Tour Down Under. 

“I was watching it on TV and once I saw them almost at the top of the climb up from Mylor I ran out the front and stood on the road to watch them go by, then ran back to the TV and watched them finish.” 

Seven years later, Harper was in the peloton himself when he made his Tour Down Under debut with UniSA-Australia, which led to his first WorldTour contract in 2020. Little did he know he would have to wait five years to salute in a Grand Tour. 

Before Saturday, Harper had never ridden the Colle delle Finestre – not even in training. 

And as he pedalled furiously to the finish line, his face grimacing with the physical pain coursing through his body, he admitted he was riding almost totally blind due to a pre-stage glitch with his bike computer. 

"Now days with the Garmins we always have the file (of the stage) on our computer, so we can see the course and it pops up when we have a climb and shows us how many kilometres to go," he said. 

"Yesterday on the bus I couldn't get the file on my Garmin so I had absolutely no data, and I joked with the guys after it was probably a blessing because I had no idea how long I had to go on the climb, I just did my pace and suffered to the top. 

"I knew through all the training that those long, hard climbs suit me quite well, and if I could pace it well then I'd get to the top in OK shape. 

"But that one was so brutal because it's a dirt climb and you feel like you have to get out of the seat, but you can't because you're slipping with the back wheel. 

"So the last three kilometres of Finestre was pretty uncomfortable just because I couldn't get out of the seat." 

The other thing driving Harper to the finish line on Saturday was the fear of being caught by friend, turned rival, Simon Yates who was destroying his GC rivals and riding his way to the pink jersey behind him. 

For the past few years of Harper's career he'd been riding to help Yates win as a teammate, and now he was trying to hold him off. 

"For most people it's a funny sport in a way, and you don't realise how big a team element there is in cycling," Harper said. 

"My role my entire career really has been to work for others and in the last few years that's been working for Simon, so yesterday was pretty unreal really. 

"I could hear on the radio how much time he was putting into the other GC guys, so I was a bit worried he might catch me, but at the same time I was super happy because the same as me he's had plenty of bad luck and I know how hard he works so he's very deserving." 

The other person Harper got to share the moment with was fellow Adelaide cyclist Alex Edmondson who was riding the Giro with his team Picnic PostNL. 

"He's one of my best mates," Harper said. 

"I got to see him once we got to the hotel, he came into our room and gave me a big hug which was really nice." 

Harper's family - including his parents in Aldgate - two sisters and younger brother were watching from their loungerooms in Adelaide. 

"I didn't get to call them, by the time I finished up and finally got my phone it was pretty late in Australia but I spoke to them the next morning which was great," he said. 

"I think they were pretty ecstatic. They knew I'd been having a few ups and downs throughout the race so they were excited." 

Harper's victory capped a successful Giro d'Italia for Australia which finished with three stage wins thanks to his Jayco Alula teammate Luke Plapp and sprinter Kaden Groves who rides for Alpecin-Deceuninck. 

Plapp and Harper both started their 2025 season at the Santos Tour Down Under in January. 

"Someone told me at the finish line it's now three stage wins with three different riders for Australia which is pretty cool," Harper said. 

"I don't think we'd done that for a while so it's good to see the Aussies going well." 

Watch the Stage 20 highlights to see Harper claim victory in the penultimate stage of the 2025 Giro d’Italia.