If Michael Rogers’ stage win in Savona was the completion of a fairytale comeback, from a provisional suspension to being cleared of doping and returning to the professional peloton, the real epic story was still unfolding. The Australian remains a popular man in the bunch and has rightly earned a reputation as a fiercely strong road captain. That he had never won a Grand Tour stage was a surprising anomaly, particularly given his time trialling calibre – Rogers is a three-time world time trial champion.

But the experienced Australian has used his comeback to make up for lost time, and racked up arguably the most impressive victory of his career on the Zoncolan. His easy riding style was a reminder as to why he is so revered as a climbing domestique and the way he fought against both the gruelling gradients and the wild throngs of spectators showed the determination of a rider with a point to prove. As comebacks go, there can have been few better, and rounding off his Giro with a top-20 place overall should have Alberto Contador – for whom he is likely to be a Tour de France domestique – feeling very optimistic.