Damiano Caruso slumped to the ground beyond the finish line in Andalo on stage 17 of the Giro d'Italia, the pain of spending 135km in the breakaway and finishing third suddenly catching up with him.

Caruso has already confirmed he will retire at the end of the season, after 17 seasons as a professional. He will turn 39 in October, and the Italian statisticians quickly highlighted that only Gino Bartali was older at 39 and ten months when he finished second on a stage in 1954.