The nineteenth stage of the Giro d'Italia finished at the top of a 20km climb  and after a day of almost 7 hours of cycling and it allwed Alexandre Géniez to consolidate his tenth place overall  with the help of his team and a super Kenny Elissonde.

"I was a little afraid of this stage," admits the leader of the FDJ team. "It was long and very hard at the end. Throughout the day, I felt better and better and Kenny did a great job, supporting me very far into the stage. For my part, I have learned to better manage my stress by having an eye on my opponents for the overall. A few days ago I rode away from my group. This time I stayed with Amador and his team."

At the finish, Geniez tookfor a nice tenth place, gained 25 seconds on Maxime Monfort and extended his advantage over the Belgian to 1'51''.

''This morning at the briefing, I asked my riders to protect Alexandre and Kenny for 150 kilometers," sports director Martial Gayant said. "They did not leave them before the first climbs. They did well and tomorrow I will ask them to do the same. 

"I also told them to stay vigilant, in a Grand Tour you can lose it all in an hour. I experienced this in 1989 when I saw Fignon lose it all in the last 15 kilometers. We do not relax.

"Furthermore, I can say Alexandre Géniez is not the same rider. In three weeks he has made ​​significant progress in his way of riding a Grand Tour and I see it every morning as he is very motivated. In the first week, he came to the briefing an hour before we took to the start in a pajamas. Now he arrives like a rider."

Like there riders, Frederic Guesdon and Martial Gayant are vigilant before the last difficult stage on Saturday with the Colle delle Finestre and the final climb to Sestriere. Nevertheless, they are already very happy with Kenny Elissonde.

"Kenny and I have a deal that he has to be there for three days and in the first two yesterday and today, he did a great job. His rating is well above the average, 15 out of 20. I know that the season is just beginning in the Giro."