Domenico Pozzovivo found himself in a very dangerous situation when he was caught up behind a crash in the finale of yesterday's stage of the Giro d'Italia. However, the tiny Italian made a fantastic comeback to finish the stage in 9th.

Domenico Pozzovivo has never liked the hard battle for position and has often seen himself lose unfortunate time due to poor positioning. Yesterday he risked lose his chances of a podium in the Giro d'Italia when he again found himself too far back in the peloton.

With 14km to go, a crash in the middle of the group split the peloton and unsurprisingly Pozzovivo was on the wrong side. The tiny Italian now faced a long chase to get back as the peloton was in full speed to get into the best possible position before a tricky descent.

At one point, Pozzovivo was seen riding with great climbers like Ivan Santaromita and Stefano Pirazzi but while those riders never made the junction, the Ag2r leader showed incredible form by rejoining the peloton. Not only did he make it back to the favourites, he even had enough left in the tank to take 9th in a finale that didn't suit him.

"I crashed 15km from the finish because a rider fell in the middle of the road," he told Bein Sport. "I made a big effort to get back. I made the descent to the limit because I knew it by heart. They rode very fast but I managed to rejoin them for the final climb. I tried to get a good result but the win was beyond my reach."

"We always hope for a better result but I am satisfied with 9th given the difficult weather conditions," sports director Laurent Biondi said. "Domenico crashed about 16 kilometers from the finish, thankfully without serious consequences. He managed to return to the main group a few kilometers later, allowing him to finish the stage with all the favorites. It's important to note the great work done by the team in support of Domenico. This cohesion around the leader is particularly important in a technical and dangerous stage like today's. "