In the twenty-first leg, the general classification contenders were a part of the same leading group until the final climb to the summit finish in Pila. Lejarreta attacked from the finish and only seven other riders were able to mark, including Millar and Roche. Over later, the Spaniard attacked again and only Roche and Millar remained with him. Despite further attacks by Lejarreta, the group rode together up to the finish. With over to go, Millar unleashed a sprint that won him the stage. Millar's performance on the stay brought him to second place overall. The final stage of the 1987 Giro d'Italia was a individual time trial. Visentini, who had crashed in the previous stage, did not start and abandoned the race. Roche beat out the second-place finisher, Dietrich Thurau, by fourteen seconds to win the day and the overall race itself. In doing so, Roche became the first Irishman to win the Giro d'Italia. The other podium positions were filled by non-Italian riders for the second time in the history of the race.