Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida) confirmed his status as the greatest stage hunter in the Giro d’Italia by taking his fifth win in just three years with a powerful late attack on stage 11 of the 2016 edition of the race. Hitting out with 5km to go, he bridged across to Bob Jungels (Etixx-QuickStep) and Andrey Amador (Movistar) who had attacked earlier after a fast start to the race and easily beat the pair in the three-rider sprint. Jungels worked for the GC and so had to settle for third but that allowed him to retain his lead and gain time on all his rivals except Amador.

 

In 2011, Diego Ulissi took a very controversial stage win in the Giro d’Italia when the young talent was given the victory after Giovanni Visconti had been relegated for irregular sprinting. Back then it was already clear that he was going to become one of the best classics riders in the world but few would have expected him to turn into the greatest stage hunter in his home race.

 

However, that’s his current status as he is by far the most dominant non-sprinter in recent editions of the Italian race. He had to wait a few years before taking his second win but after he won the uphill sprint on stage 5 at the 2014 edition of the race he has just gone from success to success in his home grand tour. Later that year he took a second stage win with another uphill sprint and last year he returned to the race after a short 8-month suspension by again sprinting to victory in a tough uphill battle.

 

This year he was aiming to keep his string going and he did so already at his first opportunity when he claimed his first ever solo win in the race on stage 4. Today he made use of another great opportunity to take win number two as he finished off excellent Lampre-Merida teamwork on the long 227km stage 11.

 

Lampre-Merida had worked hard in the early part of the stage to bring back a strong group that briefly seemed as though they would ride away with the win and then they allowed a much more manageable trio to get clear. They left it to Trek and Gazprom-Rusvelo to do most of the chase work until they approached the lumpy finale where the riders faced a brutally steep 2.9km climb that averaged almost 10% and summited just 19.3km, leading to a rolling finale with several small hills.

 

Entering the final 30km, Vegard Stake Laengen (IAM), Anton Vorobyev (Katusha) and Liam Bertazzo (Wilier) had an advantage of 2.30 but the gap was coming down quickly as the fight for position was very intense and it was the Nippo team that had taken control to set up Damiano Cunego and Grega Bole for the finale

 

The drama started when a big crash involved several top riders like Arnnud Demare (FDJ), Michele Scarponi, Tanel Kangert, Jakob Fuglsang (Astana), Domenico Pozzovivo (Ag2r) Caleb Ewan (Orica-GreenEDGE), Gianluca Brambilla (Etixx-QucikStep) and Evegeny Petrov (Tinkoff) . Apart from the latter who looked like he had broken his collarbone, everybody was able to continue but the likes Pozzovivo, Brambilla and Fuglsang faced a long chase and those three riders joined forces in a big group that was led by most of the Ag2r teams.

 

In the peloton, the big teams were sprinting for position and it was Sven Tuft, André Greipel and Jasha Sütterlin who rode on the front of the group that was down to just around 60 riders due to the crash. Matteo Tosatto took over for Tinkoff, bringing Rafal Majka to the best position.

 

Greipel took a massive turn on the front before Etixs-QuickStep took over with Lukasz Wisniowski. Meanwhile, a big group latched onto the back of the field. At this point, the gap was down to just a minute while the Pozzovivo-Fuglsang group was at 2.10.

 

The escapees hit the climb with a 30-second advantage and Laengen attacked right from the bottom. Vorbyev gave chase while Valerio Conti hit the front of the peloton for Lampe-Meida, immediately creating a big selection.

 

Conti continued to set the pace until they passed the 20km to go mark where Carlos Betancur launched a strong attack. He sprinted past Bertazzo and quickly joined Vorobyev.

 

However, Damiano Cunego was chasing KOM points and as he upped the pace in the peloton, Bertazzo, Betancur and Vorobyev were all caught. The Nippo rider kept riding on the front but it was all in vain as he exploded when Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo) upped the pace even further.

 

Laengen was caught just metres from the top and it was a small group with Kruijswijk, Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), Esteban Chaves (Orica-GreenEDGE), Vincenzo Nibali (Astana), Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha), Rigoberto Uran, Davide Formolo (Cannondale) and Jungels who reached the top. Rafal Majka (Tinkoff) quickly joined the group while a bigger group had gathered further back, with Tim Wellens setting the pace

 

Kruijswijk set a fast pace on the descent until Nibali took over near the bottom. The Italian went on the attack and only Valverde and Chvaes could keep up with him. Meanwhile, Andrey Amador (Movistar) made it back to the Jungels group.

 

The trio built an advantage of 10 seconds when they hit the bottom of the descent while the seven chasers were working together to close the gap. Further back, a 15-rider group was chasing.

 

A big pull by Jungels brought the front trio back with 13km to go and it was Amador who used a small standstill to launch a counterattack. Jungels hesitated for a moment and then did a great move to bridge the gap to the Costa Rican.

 

Kruijswijk tried to bridge the gap but he was soon brought back and instead a bigger group caught the favourites. As Sonny Colbrelli was there, his teammate Simone Andreetta went to work immediately and very soon Damien Howson lend him a hand for Orica-GreenEDGE. Further back, Fuglsang, Pozzovivo and Brambilla were chasing hard in a group that was 1.20 behind the leaders.

 

The gap was stable at around 10 seconds as it was a battle between Jungels-Amador and Andreetta-Howson. Conti also came to the fore to lend and the effort paid off as the gap was only 6 seconds as they hit a small climb with 5km to go.

 

Here Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida) launched a strong attack. Betancur tried to join him but while the Italian made it across, the Colombian exploded. He was brought back as Zakarin accelerated in the peloton before Kruijkswijk took over on the descent.

 

Manuele Boaro (Tinkoff) and Nibali both took turns but they saw the gap go out to 15 seconds with 2km to go. Matteo Trentin (Etixx-QuickStep) did a good job to slow down the chase and when Boaro led the group under the flamme rouge, the gap was still 10 seconds.

 

Jungels decided to go full gas for the GC and so he kept riding on the front until he launched his sprint with 250m to go. Ulissi was sitting perfectly on his wheel and easily came around the fading Luxembourger who was also passed by Amador.

 

13 seconds later Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek) beat Colbrelli and Trentin in the sprint for fourth. Pozzovivo and Brambilla arrived with a time loss of 1.30 after they had dropped Fuglsang on a late climb.

 

It was a great day for Jungels as he gained time on all rivals except Amador who is still second, now 24 seconds behind the Luxembourger. He will get an easier day in the saddle tomorrow when the riders face the flattest stage of the entire race. Stage 12 offers almost no elevation gains at all and ends with two laps of a technical 8km circuit in Bibione where the sprinters are expected to battle it out.

 

A lumpy finale

After yesterday’s big mountain stage, the riders faced much flatter terrain on stage 11 which brought them over 227km from Modena to Asolo. The first 200km were almost completely flat as the riders traveled along the Po Valley. However, the stage had a very nasty sting in its tail as they faced a 2.9km climb that averaged almost 10%. The top came just 19.3km from the finish and from there, the terrain was rolling with several small climbs all the way to the finish.

 

It was overcast when the 183 riders who survived yesterday's mountain stage, gathered for the start in significantly flatter terrain. Many had expected a brutal fight to hit today's break but it briefly looked like it would not go as expected. Very early, Manuel Quinziato (BMC) Moreno Moser (Cannondale), Leigh Howard, Roger Kluge (IAM), Giacomo Berlato (Nippo), Anton Vorobyev (Katusha), Manuele Boaro (Tinkoff), Filippo Pozzato and Eugert Zhupa (Wilier) managed to escaped.

 

Lampre-Merida chase down the break

They had, however, a hard time getting a big gap and were still only 19 seconds ahead after 9km of racing. Slowly, they won the battle, and the lead had gone out to 40 seconds at the 15km mark. Bardiani and Lampre-Merida had no intention to give up though, and their chasing meant that the gap stabilized for several kilometers. Bardiani was the first to give up, but Lampre-Merida continued even though they saw the gap grow to 56 seconds with 200km to go.

 

From there, the balance tipped, and the peloton was slowly approaching. After 33km of racing, the advantage was 38 seconds, six kilometers later another 7 seconds had been shaved off, and after 43km of racing it was all back together. The hard chase meant that no one dared try for a little time, but it did not mean that the pace went down as 51.4 kilometers were completed during the first hour.

 

Three riders get clear

Gradually, the attacking stated again, but no one could get clear until Vegard Stake outbuilding (IAM), Anton Vorobyev (Katusha) and Liam Bertazzo (Wilier) got a gap after 72 kilometers of racing. It was the signal for the peloton to take it easy, and therefore the advantage grew very quickly. During just1 5 minutes, they had built up a lead of 5.42, and it was 8 minutes when they hit the feed zone after two hours at an average speed of 49.7km/h. Here it briefly dropped to 7.40, but when the peloton hit the final 125km it had gone out to a massive 10.45. Here Tom Dumuolin’s saddle sore became too much and the Dutchman left the race.

 

Lampre-Merida and Trek took control in the peloton and quickly reduced the gap. It was down to 9.20 as they entered 9.20. It was already 6.30 ten kilometres later and so Lampre-Merida stopped their work.

 

Points for Demare

Instead, Gazprom-Rusvelo came to the fore and two of the Russian riders shared the work with the Trek trio of Riccardo Zoidl, Laurent Didier and Jack Bobridge. The five riders went fast and when Vorobyev led Stake Laengen and Bertazzo across the line in the first intermediate sprint with 83km to go, the gap had dropped to less than five minutes.

 

Arnaud Demare has his eyes on the red jersey and so FDJ did a full lead-out for the Frechman. Matteo Trentin (Etixx-QuickStep) and Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek) tried to mix it up in the sprint but the latter quickly sat up. Demare narrowly edged Trentin out in the battle for fourth, with Mickael Delage, Marc Sarreay (FDJ) and Nizzolo next across the line.

 

Trek and Gazprom in control

Gazprom and Trek went back to work and the gap was still melting away. Entering the final 65km, there were only 3.40 left of the advantage which had once been more than 10 minutes.

 

There was no fight for the points in the second intermediate sprint either as Vorobyev led Bertazzo and Laengen across the line. Meanwhile, the peloton slowed down as they didn’t want to catch the beak too early and several riders took a natural break.

 

More points for Demare

As in the first sprint, FDJ did a full lead-out for Demare and this time only Trentin wanted to challenge the Frenchman. This time the FDJ sprinter was clearly the fastest, taking fourth place point with Trentin in fifth.

 

Gazprom and Trek again hit the front and kept the gap stable at 3.20 for several kilometres. Nothing had changed when they entered the final 50km.

 

Lampre-Merida hit the front

The escapees went full gas and so managed to increase the gap to 3.40. As Gazprom-Rusvelo also stopped their work, Lampre-Merida hit the front with Simone Petilli and Manuele Mori to set up either Sacha Modolo or Diego Ulissi for the win. That gave Trek a pleasant break before Bobridge joined forces with the Italian.

 

With 35km to go, the fight for position got very intense and it was Nippo-Vini Fantini who hit the front, leading the bunch into the final 30km 2.45 behind the leaders.  They reduced the gap to 2.20 as they approached the finish line for the first time. That’s when the big crash split the field and initiated the exciting finale.