Feared by many in the peloton, the queen stage really was as tough as the race profile upfront suggested. For Team Giant-Alpecin it was another battle to survive in this Giro d’Italia, as most settled for a spot in the grupetto.
Five registered climbs, including the mighty Mortirolo, 174km and 4,500 meters of elevation gain; that are the numbers of this year’s Giro d’Italia queen stage.
At the descent of the first climb of the day, the Campo Carlo Magno, 11 riders got away to stay in the front until the foot of the Mortirolo. At that moment, Alberto Contador (Tinkoff – Saxo) suffered a mechanical and started the Mortirolo 45” behind on Fabio Aru (Astana Pro Team).
After an impressive catch up, Contador made it back to the front of the race whereas Aru dropped. Together with Kruijswijk (Lotto-JumboNL) and Mikel Landa (Astana Pro Team), they moved to the final climb.
With 3km remaining, Landa got away with a powerful attack and won his second stage in this Giro d’Italia. Home first for the team was Tobias Ludvigsson at 73th, followed by a group that included Chad Haga and Nikias Arndt, as the others were part of the grupetto.
“It was a hard day from start to finish. Making the time cut was simple, everyone just had to find good group and ride a good tempo the whole day, and in the end it was enough,” said Haga after the finish.
Coach Marc Reef reflected on today’s stage: “Simon [Geschke] was in the first escape of the day, which was also our main target. The race exploded directly at the first climb and only Tobias could follow in the first large group.
“In the descent, 11 riders escaped and Tinkoff – Saxo started to control the race. Nikias and Chad fought their way back in the bunch.
“Towards the Mortirolo the bunch split up again and this time it was serious. From that moment it was our priority to survive the day, as we did.”
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