As it had often happened during the Giro d’Italia, one rider from Team LAMPRE-MERIDA was in the main breakaway of the day.

After 34km in the 19th stage which were covered at a very fast pace (50 km/h of average speed in the first hour of the race), Diego Ulissi and 8 companions succeded in escaping from the bunch. Unfortunately for the winner of the Fiuggi stage, the cooperation between the attackers was broken on the first climb of Saint-Barthélemy (1st category, 69 km to go) so Ulissi had to follow his own pace and he was caught by the peloton.

The stage was won by Aru, who beat Hesjedal (Polanc, 40th, was the first LAMPRE-MERIDA rider.

“It was very difficult to be in the main breakaway, because the early kilometers were covered at a very high speed," Ulissi explained. "On the first climb of the stage, some attacks were launched in our breakaway so we did no longer have the necessary conditions to try to go to the finish, also due to the fact that the bunch was riding at a high speed.

"I would have liked to use the remaining energy to give more satisfactions to the team, so I tried hard but today it was not possible."

Przemyslaw Niemiec was very active in the early kilometers in trying to join a breakaway:

"“I made many attempts, but none of them were succesful," he said. "The three climbs of today stage were suitable for me, so it would have been great for me to be in the lead. Unfortunately, I missed the best attack, but at that point I had already spent a lot of energy."