Ciulio Ciccone (Bardiani) proved why he is regarded as the next Italian top climber when he rode to a hugely impressive solo win in the mountains on stage 10 of the Giro d’Italia. Having worked for teammate Stefano Pirazzi in a big 13-rider breakaway, the youngster turned out to be better than his captain and rode away from all his companions before motoring up the final climb to claim the win, holding off Ivan Rovny (Tinkoff) and Darwin Atapuma (BMC). Gianluca Brambilla (Etixx-QuickStep) sacrificed himself for teammate Bob Jungels to neutralize a late attack from Andrey Amador (Movistar) and the effort paid off as the Luxembourger took over the race lead.

 

We have gathered several reactions.

 

Giulio Ciccone after great team effort: We outnumbered our rivals

Winning a stage at the Giro d’Italia was a dream for Giulio Ciccone, the youngest Italian at the Corsa Rosa born in Chieti on the 20th of December 1994. Today the dream came true. Ciccone claimed a great solo win after a long breakaway with two teammates, Stefano Pirazzi and Nicola Boem.

 

“It’s a fantastic joy, I have no words to describe it” said Ciccone. “I want to share it with all the people that supported me and my teammates. We’re more than a team, we have passionate sponsors who support and believe in young talents, starting with Luca Bardiani, our president.  This win is a present for them. I want to spend a special word for Nicola Boem, a real teammate who sacrificed himself to help me, and Pirazzi in the breakaway.

 

“We had the goal to attack and look for the breakaway since the morning. Pirazzi, Boem ad I founded it. In the finale, Stefano and I played our chances. He feels really good and other teams knew this, he had not much freedom. Our team directors managed the situation very well. On the descent I attacked because I was afraid of Cunego. The last kilometers were endless.

 

“Honestly, for me coming to the Giro has been a surprise, winning is just a dream. Day by day I’m learning something, today was the most important lesson. It a great success, but just the first step. I know I have lot of things to learn again and a long road ahead of me”.

 

"Today I'm living the most beautiful day of my life. It doesn't feel real. It's like being in a bubble. Finally I've taken my first pro win. It highlights how much our team is like an enormous family. I thank them all, especially Nicola Boem who sacrificed himself for me. I hope I have paid him back for the faith he put in me by pulling our group. What a wonderful day!

 

“In the pre-race meeting this morning, at least two of us were supposed to make the breakaway, including a climber or two. It turned out even better because there were three of us, two climbers in Stefano Pirazzi and me, plus Nicola Boem, who is a fantastic team player. Towards the end, we outnumbered our rivals, and this was the key to my success.

 

”My first professional stage race (Le Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia) made me aware of my abilities after I served my apprenticeship in Bergamo, a second home for me after Chieti in Abruzzo, where I grew up.

 

”Today is the best day of my life. It’s a massive emotion. I don’t know how to describe it, I don’t have any words. I would just like to thank everybody, my team on what was an important day.

 

”It was interesting that Pirazzi was in the break as well. I understood that he was in the right move and that it was the right break to be in. He helped me a lot, he calmed me, because we had to help and support him. I’m just happy to win.

 

”I could never have imagined winning a stage here because it is my first year as a professional, it comes as a big surprise. This is a fantastic victory, and thanks to everyone, and to my whole team.

 

”[Will you try again?] Yes of course, why not. We’ll all try again the whole team. We’re here for stage wins, we’re here to fight and we’re not going to be happy with just one win. We’ll try again, we won’t rest on our laurels and we’ll continue to fight

 

"We can call it a real dream, because it was a surprise to everyone. It was even for me. It is an indescribable emotion, I seem to live the dream of a lifetime. I'm really excited , even now.

 

"Today we were perfect, led impeccably by Pirazzi. Boem allowed us to get back to the break, we did everything right. In the end we were there in front with me and Pirazzi. Then the chance was there for me and it took a look to understand that I had to go. We had not planned anything, you decide everything according to the situation.

 

“This is one more reason to improve and do well, both for me and for the team.

 

”I’m a good climber, maybe not that good downhill but I attacked on the descent and it worked. It was my childhood dream to win a stage at the Giro d’Italia.

 

A special thought? “This success is dedicated to my grandma Pasqualina who pushes me from the sky.

 

Ivan Rovny achieves first top result for Tinkoff at the Giro

At the end of a fast and full-on 10th stage of the Giro d’Italia, Ivan Rovny raced to the best Grand Tour result of his career, taking second place on the tough uphill finish in Sestola. A day of rest brought riders to the start in Campi Bisenzio fresh and ready to ride hard and fast on a tough, mountainous parcours. With Rovny up the road racing to the team's best result of the race so far, team leader Rafal Majka came over the line in 11th position, finishing with the GC favourites and moving up to seventh on GC.

 

Starting the day in better weather than the downpours experienced in Sunday’s time trial, riders expected clear skies throughout the day. After a few attacks failed to gain ground in the opening kilometres, the peloton upped the pace and started to see riders dropping off the pace at he back. Groups continued to try to escape, but it wasn’t until 60km that a proper break had formed, after climbing the third category Passa della Collina. In turn, after building up an advantage of 2’30”, a chasing group formed after 75km. While this group failed to get away, another group set out shortly after – this time containing Ivan Rovny – which, after 100km of racing grew to ten riders strong.

After the rest day, the pace was always going to be high, as Sport Director, Tristan Hoffman, explained after the stage.

 

“The race went full gas on the first climb and a big front group formed of about 100 riders. We had all nine guys in the front so the guys were looking good. Jay [McCarthy] was feeling a bit unwell but hopefully he managed to get through the stage.”

 

While the escapees at the front built steadily on their advantage, with 70km of the stage remaining, and with the Pian del Falco the next climb, the original escape group dropped back to the chasing group, making a thirteen-strong group that would be much stronger on the daunting first category climb. In spite of their apparent strength however, the breakaway began to fall apart and with 33km to go, the group had disintegrated entirely, leaving two sets of chasers between a solo break and the Maglia Rosa group.

 

With 6km to go the gap between the front of the race and the peloton sat at two minutes, and it looked increasingly likely that the stage win was going to come from the breakaway. With the finish looming however, Ivan Rovny went on the attack, escaping the chasing groups and going it alone on the front reducing the gap between himself and Bardiani CSF’s Ciccone who had moved clear on the penultimate climb of the stage. With 3km remaining, the gap between the Russian rider and the leader was just 30 seconds and Rovny was looking strong, climbing well on the third category final climb in the big ring and with the team car behind ready to provide support.

 

Finishing on his own, 42 seconds after the stage winner, Rovny crossed the line to take a well-deserved second place. Behind, in the chasing peloton, Tinkoff’s leader, Rafal Majka, was looking similarly strong and was holding his own with his GC rivals. Rafal finished with the bunch in eleventh position, which enabled the Polish leader to rise up to seventh in the GC.

Rovny was happy with the result on a tough stage - especially having suffered from sickness after the recent Tour de Romandie.

 

“The stage was really hard today with climbs up and down all day. We got away on the second climb after 30 – 40km and rode out to over 5 minutes. When the group started to attack I was feeling good but not quite enough for the stage. Second is a good result but the win would have been much better. The first week has been OK for me – the first stages were hard as I was a bit sick after Romandie but once the race got to Italy I have been feeling strong and stronger. I’m looking forward to supporting Rafal where I can - he’s riding strong. We will see him in the big mountains.”

 

Sport Director, Tristan Hoffman, was thrilled with Rovny’s performance today, having gone out early in one of the chasing groups and stayed away much of the day.

 

“Rovny did a great ride today, and it was really nice to see him take his chance. The plan was to get someone in the breakaway and he was the one that made it. His group had to work hard to catch the three riders in front but when they did it was a good group. Then in the final he was there but missed catching one rider on the last climb. It was a very strong ride, and it was not an easy stage. Rovny had the legs but unfortunately one rider was a bit better.”

 

Majka’s performance further cemented his role as a GC rider, as Hoffman continued.

 

“Behind the breakaway Rafal stayed with the other GC guys on the climbs. They made good speed at the front and he followed well, moving up one spot overall on GC - still moving in the right direction.”

 

Tomorrow’s 227km stage sees an almost pan flat parcours for 198km before a fourth category climb less than 20km before the finish in Asolo. While the route may be flat, it’s not without its challenges, with roundabouts, speed bumps and road barriers to contend with in the towns, before the climb at the end of the stage could lead to a late attack. Hoffman’s aim however was to get the team through the coming flat stages safely.

 

“The coming two days are more or less flat, then the mountains come again. We will focus on getting through without any problems before the GC fight starts again on Friday.

 

Darwin Atapuma tests his climbing legs with third place in Giro mountains

Darwin Atapuma put his climbing legs to the test on Stage 10 of the Giro d’Italia to cross the line in third place on the summit finish in Sestola.

 

After the first categorized climb of the day, a three-rider breakaway established and were later joined by a chasing group of ten riders, including Atapuma.

 

Attacks ensued on the second-to-last climb of the day, which broke the thirteen-rider group apart, and saw various groups form to chase down the leaders on the summit finish. Guilio Ciccone (Bardiani-CSF) took the solo win, followed by Ivan Rovny (Tinkoff) in second, and Atapuma in third, 1’02 behind Ciccone.

 

Darwin Atapuma said:

 

“I felt really good today and had good legs on the climbs. I was lacking a little bit when the last attack of three riders happened but I was able to slowly make my way back on the final climb. I’m really happy with third place because I didn’t have anything left when I crossed the line, so I know I tried my best today.

 

“It was good to get the chance to get in the breakaway and test my legs on the climbs. I’m hoping there will be some more stages that are suited to me, and I can get stronger and stronger with each stage.”

 

Max Sciandri, Sports Director, added:

 

“We wanted to get a rider in the breakaway today and we thought that Darwin was our best shot. They all went full gas on the first climb and Visconti launched a big attack. We were expecting a large breakaway of ten or fifteen guys to form, not just three riders. They slowly established a gap of two minutes but it wasn’t really getting too far, so I told Darwin to attack on the next climb. And he went. We knew there would be a lot of teams who wanted to be in the breakaway so this was a good opportunity for that chase group to form.

 

“There were a lot of tactics from Baridani-CSF towards the end and they had a bit more manpower in the break. At the end it doesn’t always turn out like you plan, but for us it was really good to see Darwin up there and showing what he can do. I think it’s the start of a good second part of the Giro d’Italia for us and Darwin. He and Manuel Senni can really try something on the climbs. We’re not looking for a top result on the General Classification, but rather taking those opportunities like the one we had today.”

 

Nate Brown flies to fourth place like a free bird

Cannondale had Nate Brown in fourth place.

 

”Mostly I think about how relaxed it is,” he said about riding in a breakaway. “You know, you’re free as a bird up there. You just cruise around. There’s no stress. No one is bumping shoulders with you. You’re just clicking off the kilometers. Every 5km, I think to myself: “5k closer, 5k closer, 5k closer.”

 

“Yesterday on the rest day, Joe [Domrbowski] decided to give me the old buzz cut. I’m looking fly. And to be honest, I felt as free as a bird – like an eagle but not a bald eagle, just an eagle. There were a few times I thought I didn’t have my helmet on because my head was so free.”

 

Damiano Cunego targets both stage win and blue jersey at the Giro d’Italia

It was a reat day for Damiano Cunego and for NIPPO Vini Fantini as Cunego was first on Pian del Falco, the GPM of first category. Fifth at the finish line, Damiano Cunego is now again in the King of The Mountains Jersey.

 

Damiano Cunego is very happy with the Blue Jersey, but a little bit sad about the finale: “Today was a great day of racing, combative, on which I fight fought for the Blue Jersey of King of The Mountain that was the first goal of today. Then I would like to play my chance for the stage but Ciccone (Bardiani) was very good at going down very fast. Congratulations to him, but now the team and I want to enjoy this wonderful jersey at the Giro d’Italia that we will honor and we will try to keep it as long as possible.

 

“The Maglia Azzurra is my main goal. I rode for it one week ago the day after the rest day but I spent quite a lot of energy chasing the points up for grabs in the KOM competition. Our breakaway lasted a long time…

 

“I have a few regrets because there was tension at the top of the hills and I was not feeling strong enough in the last ten kilometres. It was difficult to make it to the finish line.

 

”The next two days won’t be decisive for the Maglia Azzurra but I’ll have to go for breakaways later in the Giro to defend my lead.

 

”We wanted to go into the break to maybe try and take this jersey and a stage win but in the end I didn’t have energy. It was hard to get everybody to do their turns. Ciccone was so strong. I had a bit of help but I couldn’t take too many risks. Of course, the younger riders can take more risks. I’ll try again.

 

”I want the jersey but I want the stage win as well. Ok, it didn’t work today but I’ll try again, maybe when there are bigger climbs. I want a stage win.

Stefano Giuliani, Sports Director, was satisfied: "Our goal is to try to win a stage here at Giro d'Italia. But to battle for the Blue Jersey could be the way to reach it. We are honoring this Giro d'Italia in the best way possible, and now it is the fourth day in total with one of the four leaderøs jersey of this Giro."

Alejandro Valverde not completely satsified with tactics in Giro mountain stage

When one gives everything for his team-mates, the squad and a whole country, nothing can be done other than applaud. Costa Rica's Andrey Amador came incredibly close to donning the pink jersey after stage 10 of the Giro d'Italia (Campi Bisenzio – Sestola, 219km). A magnificent descent from the Pian del Falco summit, in the final 10km, took him to the wheel of some of the day's early escapees. After them, a spectacular Giovanni Visconti was waiting for him, the Italian having created the earliest moves and remained for the whole day at the front, including over two GPMs. The steady pace from the beginning, with plenty of attacks, caused the early abandonment from one of the biggest favourites, Mikel Landa (SKY), while Tom Dumoulin (TGA) got dropped and is now 13 minutes away from pink.

 

With those two rivals knocked out, the Movistar Team knew they couldn't let this stage slip away and sent Carlos Betancur after any moves from Astana - Vincenzo Nibali now sitting in 5th overall, two seconds after Alejandro Valverde (3rd). Valverde, always cautious and fully conscious about the legs of all contenders, knew how to keep the pace of the Italian, arguably the biggest favourite left for the big mountains, where - as said by Betancur - “the Giro will be decided”. With the Garcia Acosta-Jaimerena squad now in 2nd and 3rd overall, the prospects couldn't be brighter.

 

Bob Jungels (EQS) is now leading the race, with 26" over Amador and 50" ahead of Valverde, as neo-pro Giulio Ciccone (BAR) claimed a well-deserved solo win in Sestola. The Movistar riders have taken the lead in the teams classification, rounding off a day of significant gains for the Blues before two relatively easy stages lead the way into Friuli and the Dolomites. Asolo will be the Giro's finishing venue on Wednesday, with 227km including some insidious uphill kicks in its finale.

 

Alejandro Valverde said: "We've been up there, fighting all the way to the finish, doing a great job I think. We could have fared better, but we must remain happy with our gains today.

 

”What did not work today? It's something we keep to ourselves. We're doing well. You all could see how strong Andrey rode downhill; I tried to keep the others on a leash and not to disturb Andrey's way - it was the others' task to pull. All in all, we're satisfied with today's result.

 

Andrey Amador: It’s impossible to be in a better position

Andrey Amador said:

 

“I think it's impossible to be in a better position. Personally, I end this stage really satisfied about the whole team, Alejandro - we got Giovanni Visconti into the break today in case we needed some help, we always had guys at the front during the previous stages, we cooperated well, did it all in good spirits... the atmosphere in the group is magnificent, and we only think about doing things right and tackle what's to come with the biggest aim of success.

 

"I'm really thankful for the support they're giving us, my country and the whole squad. I would like to respond to all supportive messages, one by one, but when you're in a race, schedules are tight and you're only able to send a general message of gratitude to your country, the supporters, in my name and the team's.

 

"Wednesday's stage should be a calmer one, but all stages in the Giro bring some hardness to the menu and Asolo's finish isn't missing that. With 20km to go, there's a 3k climb with really steep slopes, so the race could break up again tomorrow. We must remain focused and not look at this stage as if it were another one, but an important one; we must keep an eye on everything, as we've done previously, to avoid any crashes, splits or troubles."

 

Orica-GreenEDGE: Chaves is in the position we want him to be in

Esteban Chaves produced another solid performance for ORICA-GreenEDGE on stage ten of the Giro d’Italia today crossing the line just ahead of the other favourites on the summit finish in Sestola to return to the top ten in the general classification.

 

The Colombian climber looked comfortable when the final selection was made with around 30kilometres left to race on a mountainous stage ten that included over 4,000metres of elevation gain over 219kilometres.

 

Chaves climbed and descended and then climbed again before attacking close to the finish slightly breaking up the select group of race favourites who all finished around two minutes down on stage winner Giulio Ciccone (Bardiani-CSF). Ciccone’s winning move came from the fragmentation of the day’s earlier breakaway with the young Italian managing to stay out front and hold on for the win.

 

Sport director Matt White was happy with the performance of Chaves and the team on an important first test in the mountains.

 

“I expected today’s stage to heat up more than it actually did,” said White. “Looking at the parcours it had the potential to be a really significant stage for the general classification but in the end we didn’t see it.

 

“It is the riders who dictate the racing and it took a long time for the break to get away and by that point in the race the whole field was racing quite negatively.”

 

“We rode perfectly as team today,” continued White. “All the guys did a great job supporting Esteban (Chaves) going into the final climbs and from then on Esteban did very well to stay controlled and finish up there at the front.

 

“We are happy with how things are going for us after ten days of racing, we are in the position we wanted to be in at this stage of the race with another long stage coming up tomorrow.”

 

Vincenzo Nibali afraid to lose time one day after a rest day

"It was a very tough stage with a total amount of climbing of almost 4000 meters and a great desire to fight in the group, said Valerio Agnoli.

 

"We worked for our captain Vincenzo Nibali and Jakob Fuglsang who arrived with the top group without a lot of problems."

 

"It could be a harder race because it came after the rest day, but then in the race everything went well despite the attack from Movistar,” Vincenzo Nibali said.

 

"Today the final climb was not hard. We rode steadily and then in the last 350 meters Valverde made his long sprint, his specialty. We kept a high pace on the penultimate climb, but it was not very long. We wanted to see if someone was not well after the rest day.

 

"After the rest it can be difficult. At last year's Tour I could not push, I was empty and I lost four minutes to Froome. We knew it could be a dangerous day. Valverde is fine and I couldn’t keep up with him in the final. In the descent, Amador attackd , but I have not tried to follow because he would not cooperate and so we would not make it. "

 

In the overall standings, the Italian champion is always in fifth place at 52" from the new leader  Bob Jungels, while Fuglsang is now eighth.

 

Jakob Fuglsang: We had hoped for a better outcome
"The only thing that happened was that Landa was sick and had to abandon. This is obviously bad for him but good for us," said Jakob Fuglsang in an interview with TV2 Sport.

 

"It was a fast stage. It was full gas. We had probably hoped we could get a better outcome when we hit the front 4 kilometers from the top of the penultimate climb.”

 

Shock for Steven Kruijswijk on technical descent at the Giro d’Italia

LottoNL-Jumbo rider Steven Kruijswijk remains fourth overall in the Giro d’Italia after a long mountain stage to Sestola. Kruijswijk has the same time as Alejandro Valverde at 50 seconds behind the new leader Bob Jungels (Etixx - Quickstep). Giulio Ciccone (Bardiani - CSF pro team) won the stage.

 

The 219-kilometer stage kicked off quickly. Breakaway attempts followed each other in rapid tempo. A large group of riders couldn’t follow. GC-rider Mikel Landa (Team Sky) had to abandon the race. At the front three riders broke away. Later joined by 11 other riders. The peloton was led by the team of leader Gianluca Brambilla. LottoNL-Jumbo leader Steven Kruijswijk was surrounded well by his team.

 

"Steven Kruijswijk made another step today," Sports Director Addy Engels said. "It was in line with our expectations, but after a rest day it is always exciting. Everyone reacts differently. Steven did what he had to do. We can follow up with that. The team has done very well and we are satisfied. They help each other and by doing so their captain Steven. You can see that they have confidence in their performance. "

 

Kruijswijk rode with the group of favourites on the final climbs. On the penultimate climb, the Plan del Falco, leader Brambilla fell behind the lead group.

 

"I stayed in the group when Brambilla was dropped" Kruijswijk said. "I saw that Jungels was good and I know Brambilla is a good descender. So I chose not to waste any energy. I felt good on that steep climb, but did not really see a chance to attack. In the final sprint, I lost some metres on Valverde but that’s OK. I am happy with my form and the team. They are focused and I can see that well in the race. They are always there for me.”

 

Nevertheless, on the descent of the Plan del Falco it almost went wrong for Kruijswijk. His rear wheel blocked just before a hairpin, but he prevented a crash at the last minute.

 

"That was a shock," said Kruijswijk. "I made a mistake. I misjudged a corner. My rear wheel blocked. Fortunately, Majka was there and caught me. I apologised later. Majka also understood that I did not do it on purpose. But it was quite a shock.”

 

Tomorrow is a mainly flat, but long stage to Asolo. The peloton has to cover a distance of 227 kilometres.

 

“The final will be a moment to watch," Kruijswijk continued. "There is still a climb 20 kilometres from the finish. I'll have to be at the front there. Maybe tomorrow Battaglin can do something and can go for the victory.”

 

Bonnafond searches for stage win for Ag2r at the Giro d’Italia

Ag2r had Guillaume Bonnafond in the break

 

"It was a long day, with 220 kilometers on the menu,” he said. “I attacked very early on the first climb. When the race hit the second climb, I followed a new attack. In the end, I tried to anticipate a little because I knew I was not climbing as well as Atapuma. I'm happy but a little disappointed to have been caught by the favourites. I found that I had good legs. I'll try again in the next stages. We take great pleasure from being in front. 
 

”The whole team works well. Pozzo (Domenico Pozzovivo) is still the best. This is encouraging , it makes you want to excel and start again. For Jicé (Jean-Christophe Péraud, ed.), for all those who follow us, we will try to win a stage. We have the means to do it."
 

Domenico Pozzovivo pleased with outcome of big mountain test

"It was a stage with very little flats. The climbs were not too hard but long,” Domenico Pozzovivo said.
 

“At some point, it started to be more difficult on the category 1 climb In the end, we all arrived without too much difference. I'm happy with my day. "

 

Bob Jungels: It was Brambilla’s own idea to work for me

After finding its rhythm on Passo della Collina and Pietracolora, the peloton then turned its attention to the first-category Pian del Falco, the penultimate climb on the course, which was averaging 8.9% in the final four kilometers. There, Astana and Movistar upped the pace and stage 8 winner Gianluca Brambilla was dropped from the main group, who was being trimmed with every meter. Leader in the white jersey classification, Bob Jungels stayed with the best and even went to the fore to pull after Andrey Amador, once the Costa Rican, who was sitting in third in the general classification, attacked in an attempt to seize the pink jersey.

 

Following a daredevil descent, Brambilla made the junction on the first slopes of the last climb and navigated through the field, moving to the front and putting in the yards in order to help Junegls close the gap to Amador, who was 50 seconds up the road at that point. The grit, determination and selfless effort of the maglia rosa wearer made the difference, as the group lost just a handful of seconds to the Movistar rider, finishing the stage around two minutes behind Giulio Ciccone, the day's winner.

 

The hard work of Gianluca Brambilla meant that the pink jersey remained within the team, moving on the shoulders of Bob Jungels, who became the first Luxembourg rider in 57 years to lead the Giro d'Italia. Until Tuesday, May 17, only Charly Gaul got to don the maglia rosa in the Corsa Rosa, the last time he managed this feat being in 1959. The similarities don't stop here, as both Jungels and Gaul were 23-year-old in their maiden Giro d'Italia, when they topped the general classification.

 

At the end of the stage which took the peloton from Campi Bisenzio to Sestola, Jungels – who's in his first season with Etixx – Quick-Step – had only words of praise for his teammates:

 

"The guys gave 100% today to keep this jersey, and I owe it to them, because without their help and strength it wouldn't have been possible to still have the maglia rosa this evening. Etixx – Quick-Step is a special team, and you could see that once again today. It's not often that the rider in the pink jersey works for a teammate and Brambi was fantastic today, so hats off to him."

 

Besides the maglia rosa, Bob also holds the white jersey, for being the best young rider in the race, and all these will make out of Wednesday's stage (Modena – Asolo, 227 kilometers) an even more special one:

 

"I still can't believe what has just happened. It's definitely one of the best moments of my life and a great day not only for me, but also for the team and for Luxembourg. I want to dedicate this pink jersey to the entire team, it's a dream to have it. I hope to keep it for as long as possible, but it will also depend on our opponents. What I know is that we'll continue to fight hard at this race.

 

"It doesn't often happen in cycling that the first rider in the classification pulls for the second one, so what [Gianluca] Brambilla did today is incredible. He was dropped, then he came back and pulled again. I can't believe it. This is one of the greatest days in my life. We're a group of friends. We've had three riders in the Maglia Rosa, starting with Marcel Kittel. We've achieved more than we expected - at least, I have.

 

”This is a jersey for the whole team; everybody worked like hell today. We were attacked from all the other teams. We had three guys controlling the breakaway and then pulled on the second last climb. When Astana went I was able to stay there. Gianluca is in pink and he was pulling for me on the last climb.

 

”I really can’t believe it. This is definitely one of the best days of my race. We don’t normally see this in cycling where a leader of the race is pulling. I think we are all really honest with each other, a big group of friends and I think we showed that today.

 

”We've had three guys now in the pink jersey. If someone told me that I had to go home tomorrow, I would say, ‘OK, it’s fine with me’. We have showed that we have a strong team but we have a few hard days ahead of us and we will try to control this, but we have achieved way, way more than we ever expected. I just want to enjoy this.

 

"In the end, it was Brambilla's idea when he came back on after the second last climb. He probably saw that I was stronger on the climbs and he decided for himself when Amador attacke. "Nobody said anything on the radio. It was a very special decision that he took, it's something we haven't seen a lot in cycling.

 

"We'll see how the race unfolds but the next stages should be sprint stages. I want to follow the best for as long as I can. This is one of the biggest moments of my career and I want to keep the jersey on my shoulders for a few days.

 

"The team came here with me as an option for GC, but with no pressure. I'm quite ambitious, I have to say, and now I'm first on GC midway through the race. But it's also a moment where we have to take each stage as it comes and not dream too big.

 

"There are still so many strong riders for the great mountains we face. I still have to do my best, like today, giving 100% and see what happens at the end. Before the Giro I would have been happy to finish in the top 15. I would still be but I think that even the top 10 is possible, considering that we are at the midpoint. Still I do not want to make a specific goal. Until now it has been fantastic, we could not ask for more. "

 

Gianluca Brambilla: You have to be realistic with yourself

"I was put in difficulty by Astana on Pian del Falco and decided to pace myself once I got dropped. I was aware that I could come back on the descent and went full gas there. After rejoining the pack and finding out that Amador got away, I wanted to stay at the front and sacrifice myself for the team and ride for Bob. The whole team worked really hard for us and gave everything in the past days and I did this for them. I'm a little bit sad not to wear the pink jersey in my home region, but I'm very happy that the maglia rosa is still in the team and seeing Bob in the maglia rosa is a real pleasure", said Gianluca Brambilla, one of the heroes of the day and of the entire Giro d'Italia.

 

"You just have to be realistic with yourself. Today I was dropped three kilometres from the top of the penultimate climb. I didn't lose a lot of time but that suggested that I might get dropped on the last one, too. I got back on during the descent and when I got back on I started to pull straightaway. I didn't want to throw away all of the work that [Matteo] Trentin, [Lukasz] Wisniowski and [Fabio] Sabatini had done all day to keep the jersey.

 

“The team hasn’t lost the pink jersey so that is a good day for us. I’m very happy I’m just very sorry that I couldn’t take the pink jersey back home for my family.

 

”It was very hard, extremely tough. My last job was to work for Bob. It was great to have guys like [Matteo] Trentin working hard for us early on. They probably had the hardest job.

 

 

"I'm happy for Bob, but a bit disappointed for myself and for the tifosi from the Veneto. There'll be a lot of them there waiting for me tomorrow. I won't have the pink jersey but I'll certainly still have a smile on my face."

 

Bad day for Taaramae destroys Zakarin’s plans in Giro mountains

Team KATUSHA’s Ilnur Zakarin moved to 9th place overall after Stage 10 in the Giro d’Italia, a hilly and draining 219 km stage from Campi Bisenzio to Sestola.

 

Bob Jungels took over the maglia rosa from his Etixx – Quick Step teammate Gianluca Brambilla. Some two minutes behind winner Ciccone, the group of GC contenders fought for the pink jersey. In that group Ilnur Zakarin attacked twice in the final uphill kilometres, but he did not manage to get away. Zakarin finished 17th in the stage.

 

”It was a tough stage in the mountains, especially after a rest day. I am recovering step by step after crash. Today my feelings were good enough. The main goal today was to pass this stage in the group together with the other rivals. In the end I just wanted to check myself a bit, to understand how my legs answer. I will go step by step in this race,” said Ilnur Zakarin.

 

Winner Giulio Ciccone, 21, was one of the 13 riders that were part

 

”We knew it would be a hard stage, especially because it comes after a rest day. For us it was an important one because we had to see how well Ilnur recovered from his crashes two days ago. It was a good opportunity as well to try something on the first category climb. I hoped Rein Taaramäe could help Ilnur to make the race harder, but Rein had a bad day. Anyway, we had good support from Pavel Kochetkov until the very last kilometers of Pian del Falco as well as from Egor Silin, who did a good job in the break. So, finally, all contenders stayed together almost until the last few km of the final climb. Zakarin tried to attack, but it was impossible to do anything on that climb. Ilnur Zakarin did a good race and we can be happy with this day,” said sports director Dmitry Konyshev.

 

Bad day for Przemyslaw Niemiec in Giro d’Italia breakaway

Przemyslaw Niemiec was protagonist in the 10th stage of the Giro d'Italia. Niemiec escaped from the peloton just after having reached the top of the first climb.  On the climb of Pian del Falco, Niemiec could not keep the pace of the breakaway mates and he got dropped back to the main group, supporting his team mate Ulissi.

Ulissi reached the finish in the top riders group, obtaining the 18th place at 2'15". In the general classification, Ulissi is 12th at 2'53".

 

Ian Boswell: We were not told that Landa was sick

"Nothing was mentioned to us that he was ill before the race," Ian Boswell told Eurosport. "In the talk before the race he looked fine. I heard it was just some gastro problems. It was really unfortunate. It was definitely not the day to have some issues because it was a big day.

 

"He didn't mention anything before the race that he wasn't feeling well. I saw him on the bus that he was a bit off. At one point he got really cold on the bus and it was pretty hot on the bus. No one really said anything just hoping….

 

"Sometimes after a rest day you don't feel too hot and then you get on the bike and feel fine. He didn't mention anything before the race, so we weren't aware of how bad he was. But I think once we got in the race it was pretty evident that he wasn't himself.

 

"I think we'll just be trying to hunt for stages. I'm not sure what happened today but Henao could be up there in the best young rider and we do have a team that has some good climbers. We still have nine days to go now. We'll come up with a plan."

 

No GC ambitions for Sky after Landa’s withdrawal

“In the Giro, the GC is over, we had put everything into one basket,” Sky Sports Director Dario Cioni told  CyclingWeekly. “He was our big card, but we still have 10 days of racing and we need to find something new for the other guys. We will think about that tonight.

 

“We still have options, Mikel Nieve, David Lopez, Sebastian Henao today were doing well. For the mountain stages, we have options. We also have Ian Boswell, Philip Deignan and Christian Knees, who can try on stages on the one into Bergamo. It’s not easy because we don’t have Elia Viviani who would’ve been our best second card for sprint stages. It’s not playing out how we had hoped because it had looked really good going into the rest day.

 

“For sure, if we had Sergio [Henao] here he was going to be plan B. We can’t do a GC if [Roche] is that far down, and with Nieve being a late call, we didn’t ask him to do a GC. They have freedom now. It doesn’t happen very often in a team like this, we will have to race like the other teams, and it won’t be easy.”

 

Strong ride by Anton and Siutsou in Giro mountains

An incredibly hard start saw the race split from early on as a number of riders tried to get into the breakaway. Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka had Johann van Zyl part of the early action and the South African made a good move but it was reeled in by a constantly attacking peloton.

 

The African Team had Igor Anton and Kanstantsin Siutsou up with the main contenders throughout the day after being well supported by the rest of the guys. The favourites group though, was only 27 riders at the start of the last climb. Anton and Siutsou were both part of the selection and the two African Team riders were able to stay in the wheels of the big names up until 1km to go where they got distanced by just 9 seconds to both finish just outside of the top 20. In the general classification race, Bob Jungels (Etixx-Quickstep) took over the lead while Siutsou moved up a spot, to now place 16th overall.

 

Igor Anton said:
 

“It was a very long stage with a lot of meters of climbing. In the last part of the stage Etixx-Quickstep and Astana were putting down the power. The penultimate climb had a very steep final 3km and this is where the group was broken. Kanstantsin and myself were dropped but on the downhill to the last climb we could come back to the riders of the general classification. The last 6km climb was not very steep but it was still hard after already 211km of racing. I am happy with how the day went in the end.”

 

Ryder Hesjedal: I have had worse days

A grueling stage 10 followed the rest day in the Giro d'Italia, a big test for the general classification contenders with a parcours that offered little to none flat roads and another summit finish. 

 

Ryder Hesjedal lost contact with the select group of favorites that formed on the penultimate category-one climb and with a gutsy effort fought his way back to the group on the descent ahead of the final climb. Safely back in with the favorites' group, Hesjedal weathered the final climb until the attacks flew again as the finish line beckoned like an open barn door to weary horses.

 

He finished in 25th place to inch forward in the GC from 16th to 14th place.

 

"I felt pretty good in such a long, hard stage with tough climbs," said Hesjedal. "I managed to more or less to stay with the favorites. I had great support from the guys before the second to last climb and then hung in there enough to get back to the front on the descent.

 

“I have had worse days out there, so all's good. 

 

"I struggled a bit on the last part of the category-one climb, which was steep. I just stuck with my rhythm and was able to manage to get back. The last climb was a bit easier to stay in and I just lost a few seconds in the final kilometer when everyone hit out again. In the big picture, it was a good day."

 

It was a cohesive team effort on a decisive day: Eugenio Alafaci, Laurent Didier and Marco Coledan guarded Hesjedal at the front in the crucial, latter part of the race while Riccardo Zoidl joined a chase group that eventually bridged to three early leaders to form a 13-man breakaway.  

 

Zoidl continued with the leaders until the final climb where accelerations blew the group apart for good.  Giulio Ciccone (Bardiani-CSF) proved he had the best legs on the day and soloed to the win while a tiring Zoidl was caught in the final kilometer by the GC favorites group to finish just behind in 31st place. 

 

Zoidl said: "It was planned that myself, Eugenio or Laurent go with a break today. I tried already on the first climb but (Team) Astana was going hard because Landa was dropped. Then on the second climb I went after a few guys who were jumping, and this one stayed away. 

 

"On the second to last climb, the long one, I didn't feel so bad, but then it all went downhill fast. I lost my energy and my power went down, down down. I think it was a combination of it being a hard day and not being able to eat enough. I have never had such a big expenditure in my life – almost 6 thousand kilojoules. It was a very long and hard day because there was no meter flat and it was almost six hours."

 

Georg Preidler: I tried to do what Geschke did at the Tour de France

It was a good effort from Georg Preidler to be part of a strong chasing group and they combined well together to close the gap to the leaders.

 

With 70km to go the breakaway and chase group  joined together to form a 13-rider leading group and they had a 5’50” lead on the peloton. At the front of the bunch, Etixx Quick Step controlled the breakaway, and while the race was heading into the finale, the team increased the pace. An exciting finale followed.

 

Preidler was the first rider to make his move as he attacked ahead of the uphill intermediate sprint at Lama Mocogno and he managed to keep a gap over the chasing group. He climbed strongly to enjoy nearly a 1’ advantage on the first chasers but he eventually got caught on the penultimate climb with 20km left in the race.

 

It was a great effort from Georg Preidler and he was first Giant-ALpecin rider to cross the line in 29th place.

 

Georg Preidler said: “On the last part of the penultimate climb, I felt really good until 1.5km to go and then the chasers caught me and I lost my moral. Then passed me with 10km to the finish line and maybe I thought I could come back on the descent but the gap was too big. 

 

“It was a big chance for me and I thought I could try like Simon when he won at the Tour de France last year. I am feeling in good shape at the moment so for sure I will try again to get myself in the breakaways in the upcoming stages.”

 

Tom Dumoulin considers abandonment at the Giro d’Italia

It was a difficult day for Tom Dumoulin and he is now 29th in the overall classification.

 

Tom Dumoulin gave his thoughts after the race: “It was a hard race and it was a little bit too much for me as I am tired now. My saddle sore was not too good today. In the beginning, it was actually worse but it got a little bit better at the end of the race.  I would have hoped to recover more during the rest day. Right now I don’t feel very good and we have to see how the situation develops. After six hours of racing everyone is tired.”

 

"That's a difficult question after a stage like this,” he said when he was asked about whether to stay in the race. “Right now I don't feel very good.

 

"I have to see. My saddle sore is not getting better and had a lot of problems; we'll see tomorrow how it goes."

 

Maxime Monfort crashes on late descent in the Giro d’Italia

"I did not feel too bad,” Lotto Soudal GC rider Maxime Monfort said. “I had a harder time in the first category climb. Then on the downhill when I was returning gradually to the group of favorites, I crashed. I have absolutely no injuries but I had to change bikes and I lost some time. I still had a lot of luck in the end. Later, I did ​​a great final climb but I was a little too far from the leaders. "