Omega Pharma-Quick Step rider Serge Pauwels entered into a 13 rider breakaway in the first high mountain stage of the Giro d'Italia, Stage 10, on Tuesday, and was able to stay away with fellow escapee Jackson Rodriguez (Androni Giocattoli) until the Altopiano del Montasio climb, with 9.5km to go.

The tempo of the peloton and the efforts of staying out front proved to be too much for the duo on a climb that averaged 7.4%, with ramps of 20 percent.

“I definitely wanted to be in the break,” Pauwels said. “The problem was it was headwinds in the beginning so it was a lot of attacking and the peloton always coming back. Then finally I got in the good break and OK, we took six or seven minutes. After the first climb, Rodriguez went and he took advantage but I came back with Gatto after the descent. Then Rodriguez had a mechanical problem later on so I could come back to him. But then around 30, 35km to go I didn’t know what was happening in the back, but apparently Sky really put pressure on the rest. In the end we are dependent on what happens in the back, especially when the big GC riders start to pull. Because, honestly, I think Sky started to pull on the first climb to make up time lost on the descent. They were thinking also about the stage, but their prime objective was they wanted to start the descent in the front to show their presence.”

“The parcour was really hard,” Pauwels continued. “Even the climb before the last was really steep, really narrow, and also a dangerous descent. I think we’re lucky we had good weather because it would have been nasty with rain. Also the last climb was really steep. To be honest I didn’t expect it to be so steep. We’re lucky we had the compact gearing today.”