READ ALSO. Fear of falling again is good: Remco Evenepoel urges Giro spectators to keep more distance
How did the victory come about?
In a bunch sprint, as expected. It didn’t go smoothly, though. With Simon Clarke and Alessandro De Marchi (both 36), two very experienced foxes were left from a leading group of five. The duo didn’t make it easy for the sprinters today… Both men had never won a Giro stage, so they tried to stay away. The duo liked each other very well, at 30 kilometers from the finish the peloton still had to make up 2’30” on the Australian and Italian.
At about 24 kilometers from the finish, the peloton finally noticed that: Alpecin-Deceuninck, Team DSM and Movistar sent their troops in front of the peloton to close the gap with the two escapees. The closer the line came, the more the nerves in the peloton increased. At 15 kilometers from the finish, Primoz Roglic had a puncture: the Slovenian of course returned, but it was not so nice for the feeling.
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At about ten kilometers from the finish, Clarke and De Marchi still had a minute bonus, so the stress in the peloton increased even more. The peloton crumbled into pieces, whoever was at the back was seen. It was a true thriller: five kilometers from the finish, the two leaders still had a 35-second lead, which could well be enough.
It seemed that way for a long time: until the duo left it alone. Their lead was enough, but poker killed them 300 meters from the finish. They no longer took over from each other and the onrushing peloton gladly accepted that. Led by a strong Bauke Mollema, the sprinters raced.
Fernando Gaviria was first out of the last corner, but that was much too early for the Colombian. Mads Pedersen came over from the rear wheel and raced to his first stage victory in this Giro. Jonathan Milan finished second, Pascal Ackermann completed the podium.
Rash:
1. Mads Pedersen
2.Jonathan Milan
3. Pascal Ackermann
4.Fernando Gaviria
5. Kayden Groves
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What did the favorites do?
Remco Evenepoel briefly played race director in Sorrento. At the head of the peloton, he waved his arms for the public to move further back, all for safety. After his crashes yesterday, the world champion showed himself really okay. The damage seems to be minor, thankfully.
Primoz Roglic had bad luck in the final kilometers with a flat tire, but also seemed to have fallen. For example, there was a tear on his bib shorts on the right buttock. Fortunately, without much harm for the Slovenian.
Geraint Thomas also had bad luck on the way, in the full final. Suddenly the Brit from Ineos Grenadiers had his foot on the ground. Luckily he had locomotive Filippo Ganna to bring him back.
What did the other Belgians do?
Arne Marit clearly licked his wounds after his falls yesterday. Our compatriot would have been a contender in this sprint, but when climbing in the first part of the race, the Intermarché-Circus-Wanty rider had to let go.
Laurens De Plus did a strong job for Ineos Grenadiers in the peloton. Because of its pounding, the British formation took control of the course and kept the lead of the leading group under control.
In the same category also Harm Vanhoucke (Team DSM) and Senne Leysen (Alpecin-Deceuninck). The two Belgians had to work in the peloton to close the gap with the leading group, because they had a sprinter with plans in Marius Mayrhofer and Kaden Groves respectively. Our compatriots did well, because they came back.
Anything else you should know?
– Even before the start of the ride it was already raining flat tires. Serry, Geoghegan Hart, Bonifazio (2x) and purple jersey Milan: they all had to be assisted by their support car before the official start.
– Mark Cavendish did not seem to have recovered well after his heavy fall yesterday. The Briton hoped for a new mass sprint today and that also came, but sprinting himself was not an option. On the first climb of the day he had to let go, the Astana rider would not return to the front.
– Alessandro De Marchi and Francesco Gavazzi took 15 and 18 KOM points respectively and are now fourth and fifth in the KOM classification, which is still led by Thibaut Pinot. The Frenchman did not score any points today.
Tags: Pedersen wins Naples Refugees Marchi Clarke caught sprinting peloton line
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