In the Giro the riders had to cover a mountain stage with finish at Madonna di Campiglio today. Maxime Monfort and Jurgen Van den Broeck  reached the top of the Passo Daone – with 31 kilometres to go – in the maglia rosa group which had been considerably reduced.

In the descent Jurgen Van den Broeck crashed and lost precious time. In GC he’s now eleventh at 10’05” of Alberto Contador. There is not much physical damage, only some abrasions on his arm. He hit his back as well in the crash. Maxime Monfort was strong today and finished as eleventh at 2’18” of stage winner Mikel Landa. In GC he moves from the eleventh to the eight place at 8’20”.

Bart Leysen, sports director Lotto Soudal told the Lotto Soudal website:

“It was looking good for us until the top of the Passo Daone when Jurgen and Maxime reached the top in the maglia rosa group, but halfway the descent Darwin Atapuma missed a turn and Jurgen crashed as well. Jurgen got back on his bike pretty quickly, but Astana was setting such a high pace that he couldn’t close the gap of about three to four hundred metres. Jurgen was the only one in the chase group who needed it to take back time. On the final climb he didn’t get quite in his rhythm.

“A check-up in the hotel showed that the physical damage isn’t too bad, he only has abrasions on his arm. He hit his back in the crash, but the physiotherapist will help him with that. The rest day is extra welcome for Jurgen. He’s still eager to fight and wants to get his position of this morning back, when he was fifth. There are still four tough mountain stages to come, other than the top three nothing’s sure yet.

“Maxime survived the Passo Daone well. He wasn’t involved in the crash. We deliberately didn’t ask Maxime to wait for Jurgen so he could secure his own place. He did that really well with a nice eleventh place in the stage and the eighth place in GC after today.”