A game of daredevils defeats a deranged platoon due to a sterile fight between the sprinters. The French Ben Thomas They scored the victory in the walled Lucca after taking advantage of a breakaway in the final stretch of the stage in which they also got Michael Valgren (EF Education-EasyPost), Enzo Balance (Groupama-FDJ) and Andrea Pietrobon (Team Polti Kometa). The French Olympic track gives Cofidis its first victory this season.
In the splendid spring of Tuscany. The sprinters’ teams were evident. The four escapees left when there were only a handful of kilometers left for the closing, they soon added 45 seconds of advantage and from that moment on the chasing group appeared out of control. Jonathan Milan and their Trek launchers demanded that the members of Alpecin, Soudal and Visma relieve them at the spearhead. Some pretended to be deaf, others hid. When they agreed it was already too late.
The escapees got along splendidly. Pietriobon tried with an attack with 600 meters to go, but Thomas’ push was insurmountable. First victory of the course for the 28-year-old runner, who last achieved a stage in the Four days of Dunkirk.
The Frenchman gained notoriety in the monumental Lucca, cradle of composers Giacomo Puccini y Luigi Boccherini. It is also the homeland of Mario Cipollini one of the most formidable sprinters ever, who holds the record of victories in the Giro, 42, one more than Alfredo Binda. It was the most cunning of a nervous stage day, with several snags that caused the falls, among others, of Woods, Walter, Milesi and Foss.
A stage that preceded the stressful appointment this Thursday, with the presence of the feared dirt road, that pressed earth that accelerates the runners’ pulse. An uncomfortable scenario in which Tadej Pogacar always offers very high performance, as it already demonstrated this season with the overwhelming dominance in the White Roads. A day for the classicists and the most powerful rollers.
The event, which starts from Torre del Lago Puccini and ends in Rapolano Terme, consists of 180 kilometers, with a flat route until the equator of the exercise. The three sections of unpaved track, with a total of 11.6 kilometers, are located in the last part of the stage. 50 stressful kilometers. The first challenge appears at kilometer 130 and has a length of more than 4,000 meters. With hardly any rest he bursts in the second segment, in Grotti, which broke the race due to its 4.8 kilometers of climb. The third is located only 16 kilometers from the finish line and has a length of 2,400 meters, with ascent and descent. Tormenting obstacles from dust and gravel. Extra work for the mechanics.
A Comanche territory in which Pogacar threatens to have fun and martyr his enemies. A fun one in which some candidate for the podium could say goodbye to his options. This Giro offers no respite.