The various layers of the hilltop city of Perugia seem to fold into one another like something from an Escher drawing. It’s easy to get lost here at the best of times, and easier still after racing flat-out up the steep road into the citadel at the end of 40km Giro d’Italia time trial.
By the time he had freewheeled as far the junction of Via Baldeschi and Via Battisti, 400 metres or so beyond the finish line, Geraint Thomas had lost track of the signs guiding him towards the carpark where his Ineos Grenadiers van was waiting. The former Tour de France champion stopped in the road to take stock of the situation as pedestrians ambled past him without a second glance towards their Friday evening aperitivo.
