Un cordiale saluto a tutti - we're back in Imola, where Mathieu van der Poel won the 11th stage of this 2020 Giro d'Italia yesterday. The race takes off from here for what will be this year's last chance for the puncheurs already!
Unlike yesterday, we'll have completely flat two thirds of the race first, whereas all the difficulties await us in the final part - including an uphill finish.
From Imola, we'll head pretty much straight north, by-passing Ferrara and Rovigo as the largest cities along the course. Towards the end of the long flat roads, in Solesino, after 107km, we'll have today's intermediate sprint, before hitting some hills once again.
First on the list will be the climb up to Castelnuovo, a category 4 hill, whose top will be reached after 133.7km. The toughest uphill section will however be the next one, as we'll see a category 3 KoM sprint in Crosara.
From there, only 26 kilometers will be remaining - including another (uncategorized) hill climb to Perarolo, however. After the descent, flat roads will lead us into today's arrival location, Vicenza. This city of slightly more than 100,000 inhabitants is an important commercial centre, whereof jewelry is the most important domain. About a fifth of Italy's gold and jewelry is produced here. But besides of precious stones, you can as well see old ones - many of them built by famous architect Andrea Palladio (which is why the city's surname is "City of Palladio").
However, the monument that we'll take the closest look at hasn't been built by him. The Basilica Santa Maria is right on top of Monte Berico - where we'll have today's finish line! It's a short yet steep climb - really made for the guys with a lot of punch! Let's see if they'll really get to fight for the stage win up there, or if the breakaway takes it once again! Furthermore, the final ascent has been classified as a category 4 climb, offering some minor KoM points for the stage winner, as well as the usual 30 points for the points standings in hilly stages.
The bookmakers list once again - probably for the last time - the puncheurs on top of their stage favorites ranking. McCarthy, Spilak and Demare - once again - come out on top, followed by Vakoc, Boswell and Izagirre. The one-star group then mainly contains hybrid racers, with the exception of Bystrom, as they name Taaramäe, Talansky and Arndt. Again, two Generali and Team Puma - SAP riders each.
Let's see if Spilak can finally make up a bit of that handicap from stage 4 - if he really wants to have a shot at the GC win, he'll have to step up his game soon!
It's another cloudy day, but again without a lot of wind. The riders are ready, we are, too - let's go!
As soon as the race starts, the rain does the same. Campero, Kneisky and Gillett don't care und just attack anyway.
Van Niekerk wants to make up for yesterday's bad performance and goes into the attack as well - followed by Roman, whose target will surely be to finally get the KoM jersey he narrowly missed out on yesterday.
Attacking next is Austrian duo Schönberger and Grossschartner.
But the breakaway attempts don't stop there, with Mraouni, ever-aggressive Fedeli, Cosnefroy and Coppel trying as well. Sagiv isn't too happy.
And he simply follows the next attacker Bugge to catch up with all these last few riders. Campero, Kneisky, Gillett, Van Niekerk, Roman, Grossschartner and Schönberger remain up front.
But Bugge then tries again, followed by Fedeli. How will the pack respond this time?
Not at all yet. We again have a trio of blue attackers from three different teams: McCarthy, Edet and Cosnefroy. Turek tries to close the small gap.
But it's still not over: Van Zandbeek, Bystrom and Gabburo are trying to escape as well! How many does that make in total?
We'll probably soon have a better overview, as the attacks and the pack's chasing have both stopped. Eislers sets a rather slow pace. Understandably, as that rain surely isn't very motivating. However, we can already see some shadows on the road - hopefully the rain stops soon!
Well, it hasn't stopped so far. But the escapees have now regrouped, as we have our Breakaway of the Day, leading already by three minutes. So let's once again take a look at the 16 guys who are up front - or at least at the stronger ones.
Just as yesterday, the best puncheurs in this group are McCarthy and Bystrom, who were part of the successful breakaway - but definitely weren't happy with 4th and 6th. Today's finish should suit them better, as it's uphill!
Van Niekerk is a strong puncheur as well, and he's even better rounded than the two former, just like Schönberger is at a slightly lower level. Edet will probably be here to help Bystrom.
Then, we have climber Campero, who has been very disappointing so far - and who doesn't like the hills that much. A slightly weaker climber, but much stronger puncheur than him is Roman, who just missed out on yesterday's stage win and will finally want to take over the KoM lead today. He's trailing by just 3 points in the KoM standing.
With Bugge and Gabburo, Roman has two strong helpers (who both already have a stage win to their name) by his side, whereas Gillett and Cosnefroy - the 4th rider having been in yesterday's successful breakaway - will try to support Grossschartner.
None of these riders should be a big danger for the GC contenders; McCarthy is currently ranked highest in 33rd place, more than 18 minutes down. Which is six minutes and more behind most GC favorites.
Finally, let's get an overview of the whole group:
Roman
Bugge
Gabburo
Grossschartner
Cosnefroy
Gillett
Bystrom
Edet
Schönberger
Turek
McCarthy
Van Niekerk
Campero
Fedeli
Kneisky
Van Zandbeek
We can pretty quickly observe that not all riders are working in the group - which is justified, as Gabburo works for Isostar, Turek for Moser, Edet for Air France and Cosnefroy for Grieg. Which in turn means that Bystrom, Grossschartner, Gillett, Schönberger, Roman and Bugge can take it easy for the time being.
The peloton's deficit has gone up to four minutes now, with 150 kilometers to go. About 70 kilometers to the intermediate sprint.
And some good news: the rain has stopped!
In the peloton, the puncheurs are trying to find a good position already now. Izagirre and Boswell are as far ahead in the pack as almost never before, which hopefully is a good sign for them.
Setting the pace are currently Garcia Cortina, Van Poppel, Sagiv, Eislers, Van Winden, O'Shea, Dal Col, Zhao, Fominykh and Castrillo - most of whom are definitely no slouches on the flat! They will try to keep the escapees at bay and then reel them in before it's too late - for once. If they will succeed is a different question...
At least the tempo riding in the pack has some effect, as the breakaway's lead is down to 3 minutes with 110km to go. Still almost 30 kilometers until the intermediate sprint - and about 50km until the foot of the first hill!
The same riders are still working in the peloton, setting a good pace, but no horrendous one, given the shape of the bunch.
Puncture by Schleck! Fortunately, it's still pretty early in the race, and the pace isn't too high yet. Still, let's hope that the energy he'll need to catch up won't be missing in the finale!
But EA Vesuvio react immediately and send back Wirtgen, Jungels, Girdlestone and Afewerki to bring Schleck back as quickly as possible. Which they do. Still, it took Schleck almost 10 kilometers to catch up, whereof he was riding some on his own. He should have enough time to recover until the hills, though.
Once more, the breakaway riders show absolutely no interest in the intermediate sprint points, so they are pretty randomly distributed like this:
Maglia Bianca Budenieks leads the peloton over the sprint line 2'53" later. 80 kilometers still to go, about 20 until the first climb starts!
The gradients of the Castelnuovo ascent (4th category) are pretty constant throughout, hovering around or slightly above 5%. There's a short breather in the middle and the climb flattens out towards the top, hopefully providing the perfect terrain for a tense sprint!
Five kilometers of climbing to go for the escapees. Roman needs to cross the line on top first to definitely take over the KoM lead, or in second position to catch up with Vakoc.
The peloton has still been riding slightly faster than the breakaway on the last couple of kilometers, cutting down the deficit to 2'24" by the foot of the hill. Mullen is setting the pace for the climb, with Sagiv ready to take over.
Van Niekerk launches the sprint with 1.2km to go! Campero, Van Zandbeek and Kneisky jump to his wheel, whereas Roman has to make up some ground!
And the Serb does so like a champion, overtaking all the riders up front and winning this sprint!
1. Roman - 5 (36)
2. Van Niekerk - 3 (3)
3. Campero - 1 (1)
With this result, Roman outscores Vakoc by two points and takes the provisional Maglia Azzurra! Can the Czech strike back later in the stage - or at the finish line?
We had several riders not participating in the sprint - and these six now have a 23" gap to close: Bystrom, Schönberger, Turek, Grossschartner, Cosnefroy and Gabburo.
Edet, Bugge and Gillett seem to have done their work and are even further back.
The three aforementioned riders are actually already within the peloton's field of view as they cross the line on top. 1'52" for them, 2'19" for the pack led by Sagiv.
In the meantime, the usual suspects have lost contact with the peloton, but with just a bit more than 50 kilometers to go, there isn't much risk for them to miss the time limit.
However, there's another split in the peloton, with Malecki being on the wrong side of it once again! He seems to start feeling his legs, as this has happened quite some times lately!
Although this second group can close the gap quite easily this time, the question is whether the Pole can keep up on the next tough climb...
While Edet, Bugge and Gillett have been swallowed by the pack, the two groups up front haven't merged yet. Which must cost them some more energy than it would had the first group just waited. Or won't they even regroup?
Team Puma - SAP surprisingly seem to have chosen Arndt to be their leader today, given that Demare is now helping out with the chase! Which is rather strange, given that the Frenchman is stronger on the hills and he's one of the world's best sprinters! Hopefully for them, this choice will pay out...
It does in what concerns the pack's deficit so far, as it's down to 1'48". 36km to go for the escapees.
Just in time before the next hill climb starts, the two groups up front have re-united. So the following 13 riders are left up front:
Roman
Gabburo
Schönberger
Turek
Grossschartner
Cosnefroy
McCarthy
Bystrom
Van Niekerk
Campero
Fedeli
Kneisky
Van Zandbeek
Let's take a look at the profile of said hill - it's a tough one, as we already mentioned! The first 2.5km have an average slope of more than 10%, even reaching 14% at times! The last 1.7km are "just" around 5%, but those who already have sore legs now will definitely struggle to hold on!
Van Niekerk doesn't want to lose any time, as he attacks as soon as the road starts going up! The approaching peloton surely pushed him to go all in already now - but can that work out?
With Cavagna leading the pack, the breakaway definitely has to hurry up, as the speed in the peloton will likely be pretty high on this climb! Fasten your seatbelts, we're taking off!
Van Niekerk's attack wasn't successful, and so it's Roman launching the next one with still almost 3km of climbing left! Van Niekerk takes his wheel, followed by flat specialist Kneisky!
The peloton trails only by 1'19", with Cavagna definitely pushing seriously now!
It had to be expected that Kneisky eventually has to let go of Van Niekerk and Roman, putting those behind him in a really difficult situation! Can anyone catch up with the leading duo?
Two kilometers of climbing left, as we're leaving the steepest sections behind!
Cavagna is taking a short break, as it's now Nych pulling the pack uphill. The breakaway is almost over for Turek and Van Zandbeek, who were the first two riders to be dropped up front on this climb. But Fedeli just had to let go as well, he's right ahead of the blue car. It's not looking great for Campero and Gabburo, either, who have a small gap as well.
Up front, Roman simply rides away from Van Niekerk and takes maximum points in Crosara as well, securing the Maglia Azzurra for at least three days, as there's no KoM sprint on the next two days!
Van Niekerk comes 2nd - but where's the rest?
Grossschartner has left the others behind - where "others" here means:
Schönberger
McCarthy
Bystrom
Cosnefroy
Campero
Kneisky
Gabburo
Fedeli is about to be caught by the pack, whereas Grossschartner indeed takes the final points on top of the 3rd category sprint:
1. Roman - 6 (42)
2. Van Niekerk - 4 (7)
3. Grossschartner - 2 (2)
Which means that Roman extends his lead to 8 points - only 5 are available at the finish line. Well done!
Conti leads the peloton over the top - and the group ahead has broken up on the final meters of the climb! Cosnefroy is almost caught already, with Kneisky just a few more meters ahead. Gabburo, Campero, Bystrom, McCarthy and Schönberger are closing in on Grossschartner again.
The pack has again lost some speed towards the top, trailing Roman by two minutes now. 26 kilometers to go - including the climb to Perarolo, which is pretty steep as well!
Uh-oh, this doesn't look great for Kennaugh today! He has just missed out on a split and absolutely needs to make up some ground before the next hill if he doesn't want to lose his good GC position!
Gabburo, Campero, Bystrom, McCarthy and Schönberger are caught right now, with Grossschartner only a few meters ahead! Which means that we only have Roman and Van Niekerk left up front, separated by about 30"! The peloton still trails the leader by about 2 minutes!
Malecki has once again been caught behind, and so 2nd overall Kruijswijk has to close the gap for him! Can he yo-yo back to the front? And what will then happen on the last hill?
Ji and Anacona both are in this group as well - together with their lead puncheur Vakoc!
20 kilometers to go for Roman and Van Niekerk! There's still a 25" gap separating them, with the pack trailing by 2'09"! Will they actually have a shot at the stage win? The next hill will probably decide!
By the way, Malecki makes it back to the pack just under this 20km arc!
For the moment, we only have slopes of about 5% - which was enough to make Van Niekerk crack! Roman rides away and already has a minute on the South African! The peloton's deficit is 1'54" - let's see if they hammer up this hill or if they once again slow down in the decisive moments of the stage!
Conti and Vosekalns are leading the bunch into this ascent, with all the top puncheurs and GC contenders well positioned - especially Taaramäe, who's already in 6th position!
Bernal sets an end to Van Niekerk's escape. It's not his Giro so far...
Roman is still 1'30" ahead, but now on the steeper slopes - around 8% - the advantages is shrinking pretty fast! On the other hand, he has almost reached the top!
But now, Demare takes over in the pack, making the pace go up instantly - and the gap go down the drain, or washed away by the rain that has come back! Only 32" remaining as the peloton rides over the top!
Demare is still pushing like crazy up front - has he not been informed that Arndt was left behind on that climb? Or do they now go all-in for Mager, who's still up front?
Malecki, Kruijswijk, Carapaz, Kennaugh, Vakoc, Bystrom, McCarthy - all are in this group as well!
But it's even worse for eBuddy's GC captain Aru, who's one group further behind! Can they catch up again with the leaders? Will Demare finally stop chasing? Can Roman hold on to the win?
10 kilometers remaining, as Roman is about in the middle of the downhill! Two more kilometers of descending, followed by a false flat and the final uphill section to the finish line!
Demare is not relenting however, cutting back the gap second by second!
Fernandes has definitely chosen the worst possible moment for a puncture! What a bummer for the Portuguese, who kept up with the front group all the way - until now...
With 5 kilometers to go, Roman still has a 30" lead, having clearly capitalized on his strong downhill skills! Will this be enough to fend off the approaching pack?
The answer seems to be "No", as Demare has almost closed the gap with three kilometers to go! But will he still be able to win the sprint after this huge effort? Or will Mager indeed be able to get the desired result for Team Puma?
Arndt probably won't, as his group is still trailing the 40-rider peloton by about 40".
Roman's great breakaway performance is over with just 2 kilometers to go! Now it's Teklehaimanot preparing the sprint for Reis, with all the big names in the first positions! Well, except for Demare and most other pure puncheurs, as the former has fallen back to the end of the group, and the latter are mostly trailing in one of the left-behind groups.
Here they are, actually, together with Malecki. They have to hope that nobody wants to keep up the pace in the leading group, if they want to have a chance to come back!
But the pack isn't slowing down by any means - on the contrary! Sivakov leads out Kritskiy as we head onto the final kilometer - Fiamma Rossa for the peloton!
Everything is really close together right now; we can just see that Laengen and Carboni currently are in the next positions behind the two Russians, with Kuboki and McKenna close behind! And Demare falling off behind!
While most of the riders want to take the steep inside lane, Kritskiy has chosen to stay on the outside of this final turn, still following his leadout Sivakov! 700m to go, and it's a very messy sprint!
With 500m to go, it's somewhat easier to get things sorted out! McKenna and Kuboki have taken the first positions, with Kritskiy and Taaramäe currently in 3rd and 4th.
van der Poel and Barguil have taken McKenna's and Kuboki's wheel respectively and are in an amazing position! Laengen, Carboni, Nesset, Kirsch and Talansky are next!
We then have another row with Sivakov, Canty, Chiarello, Haig, Karnulin, Izagirre, Boswell and Brenes, and Reis and Bongiorno somewhere between these two rows.
Spilak definitely doesn't have a great position, just like Shikai and Mager! That strategy doesn't seem to work out for the Germans!
McKenna takes the lead ahead of Kuboki with 400m left! Taaramäe, Kritskiy, van der Poel and Barguil are still well placed - especially the two latter, as they still benefit from the splipstream of McKenna and Kuboki respectively!
One line further back, Talansky, Laengen and Canty are the strongest right now, but that could quickly change - it's just so close back there!
Kuboki takes back the lead 100m later! Taaramäe is very strong, too, having almost caught up with the two leaders!
On the other hand, Kritskiy has slightly faded, dropping back to the level of van der Poel, Barguil and Talansky, who will likely deliver Generali's best result of the day.
Canty on van der Poel's wheel and Chiarello on Barguil's could capitalize on the slipstream in the end, let's see!
Further down the road, we first have a group of riders dropped off the first group, and only then the chasers led by Arndt and Kennaugh. Can they still limit or even eliminate their losses?
Kuboki has now clearly faded and is at risk of dropping far back! McKenna has taken the lead ahead of Taaramäe, whereas Kritskiy seems to have got a second wind, still level with van der Poel and Barguil.
Canty, Chiarello, Kirsch and Talansky follow in the next line, with Carboni, Izagirre, Bongiorno and Brenes slightly further back.
Amador, Valls, Haig, Wirtgen, Nesset, Karnulin are next, followed by Spilak, Boswell and Reis.
Faglum Karlsson, Mager and Shikai are in the last positions of this first group, from which Schleck and Laengen have just been dropped!
Only 200 meters to the line!
Only 100m to go! Taaramäe and McKenna are now on level terms, which holds as well for Kritskiy, van der Poel and Barguil right behind! Who has got most left?
It seems to be van der Poel, as he takes the lead just a few meters later! Can the youngster make it two in a row here?
However, Taaramäe and Barguil have definitely not thrown in the towel yet, whereas McKenna and Kritskiy don't seem to have much left.
Instead, Canty and Chiarello are moving up, with Talansky still at that level as well. Kirsch and Bongiorno are next, while Amador has made quite a big jump forward as well.
van der Poel is still leading and definitely has chosen the best line, as Barguil and especially Taaramäe have a much longer distance to cover! These three still seem to be fighting for the podium, while McKenna and Kritskiy are slightly behind.
Chiarello and Canty are doing a great job as well - but it's likely too late to get a Top 5 result.
Mathieu van der Poel does it again! Just one day after his first GT stage win, he ups the ante and upsets all the big guns today! Fantastic and surprising win, definitely!
But who can take second under pouring rain? It seemed to be between Barguil and Taaramäe, but Kritskiy is actually back in contention as well!
It's Warren Barguil! He showed a great sprint as well, and will be asking himself tonight what he did wrong to be beaten by the Dutchman today - but this result should still give him a lot of confidence for the dreaded TT in two days!
Gaining even more confidence, that's definitely true for Rein Taaramäe as well, as he claims the final podium spot of the day. He's really not a sprinter at all, but he's been very attentive and well positioned throughout all stages so far, thus his 3rd place today doesn't come as a big surprise - even though he isn't among the very best puncheurs, either.
Timofey Kritskiy finally has to settle for 4th, showing that he is ready for the bigger tasks, too. Sean McKenna makes it a really good day for Moser - Sygic, taking a very good 5th place, while William Chiarello takes 6th.
It looked very good for Brendan Canty for quite a long time - but teammate Jack Haig edges him out on the line. That's 7th and 8th for the Bennelong riders.
Rafael Valls then makes it two Aegon riders in the Top 10 as well, taking 9th place. Andrew Talansky rounds off the Top 10, narrowly ahead of Alex Kirsch, Denys Karnulin and Francesco Bongiorno.
Gregory Brenes and Andrei Amador take 14th and 15th, before we finally have the two best pure puncheurs in Ian Boswell and Ion Izagirre. No, it wasn't really their day as well - the final hill was probably too short to really capitalize on their superior punch.
Sigurd Nesset, Rafael Reis and Giovanni Carboni round off the Top 20.
Schleck couldn't hide today that he doesn't really like those hilly courses, losing 30" and taking 27th place. Inside the front group ahead of him, we had in 21st to 26th Shikai, Faglum Karlsson, Spilak, Wirtgen, Mager and Kuboki.
Team Puma - SAP will definitely have to discuss their tactics tonight, as Demare basically helped van der Poel to win the stage, while his team didn't even bring a rider inside the Top 20 - and their GC leader moreover lost contact due to the Frenchman's tremendous work. No, that was a complete failure, we have to label it as such.
By the way, 8" behind Schleck, we have Ludvigsson and Laengen crossing the line.
McCarthy gets a disappointing result again - but at least he tried by joining the breakaway. Unlucky that it didn't work out today... He reaches the line 47" behind the winner, which is also the time that Arndt, Malecki, Kruijswijk and Kennaugh lose today. Bystrom, Vakoc and Demare finish inside this group, too.
But it's an even worse day for Aru, who loses 2'13" and drops out of the Top 20 in the GC. It's time to get the real mountains started for the riders who were on the losing side today!
But well, first we have two more stages - including that infamous 55 kilometer time trial in two days. But let's not think about that one too much already, let's rather celebreate today's great winner!
And the winner is - for the second day in a row - Mathieu van der Poel! Whereas he "just" mastered a breakaway group including 7 riders yesterday, he was able to beat some of the best puncheurs and climbers of the world on that final incline today, by again finding the perfect timing for his sprint! What a great time he's having here in Italy, with this being alread his third podium in four days - amazing! Congratulations!
Warren Barguil must be slightly disappointed to be beaten by a much weaker climber, and slightly weaker puncheur - but the Dutchman simply is the better sprinter. With the flatter final meters, that might have been decisive - nonetheless, the Frenchman clearly showed that the legs are good, which looks promising for the tasks to come!
Which of course holds even more for Rein Taaramäe, who is considered to be the best climber in this peloton anyway - and one of the very best time trialists as well. He's showing a good race so far, and as he wasn't able to get a lot of time gaps so far, these eight bonus seconds today are surely welcome!
This man has once again delivered a very strong performance! Kamil Malecki lost contact several times - and finally only conceded 47" to the strongest, still holding on to his 10-minute-lead ahead of teammate Steven Kruijswijk!
Christian Mager finished in the top group, thereby reducing his deficit to 10'15" - but it's not very likely he'll still be up there by the end of the race, either.
So, after all the hills and mountains of week 2 are (already) done, let's take another look at the GC including only the presumed contenders - although we have got no idea for how long Malecki can still hold on, and where he'll end up!
4.
Jack Haig
+ 10'32"
+ 0"
6.
Timofey Kritskiy
+ 10'38"
+ 6"
7.
Warren Barguil
+ 10'38"
+ 6"
8.
Rein Taaramäe
+ 10'46"
+ 14"
9.
Rafael Reis
+ 11'00"
+ 28"
10.
Chen Shikai
+ 11'07"
+ 35"
11.
Andrew Talansky
+ 11'08"
+ 36"
12.
Francesco Bongiorno
+ 11'12"
+ 40"
13.
Sigurd Nesset
+ 11'15"
+ 43"
14.
Denys Karnulin
+ 11'18"
+ 46"
15.
Rafael Valls
+ 11'26"
+ 54"
16.
William Chiarello
+ 11'54"
+ 1'22"
17.
Marcus Faglum Karlsson
+ 12'01"
+ 1'29"
18.
Andrei Amador
+ 12'01"
+ 1'29"
19.
Andy Schleck
+ 12'11"
+ 1'39"
20.
Nikias Arndt
+ 12'38"
+ 2'06"
21.
Tim Kennaugh
+ 13'11"
+ 2'39"
22.
Gregory Brenes
+ 13'15"
+ 2'43"
24.
Fabio Aru
+ 14'02"
+ 3'30"
26.
Simon Spilak
+ 14'48"
+ 4'16"
30.
Egan Bernal
+ 17'35"
+ 5'03"
43.
Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev
+ 21'26"
+ 10'54"
55.
Winner Anacona
+ 25'05"
+ 14'33"
69.
Jonathan Salinas
+ 29'16"
+ 18'44"
In the five stages so far in this second week, Haig and most of the other team leaders were able to gain 2'18" on Maglia Rosa Malecki - which isn't a lot, of course, but the time trial alone could result in much higher time gains for some. And the mountains awaiting us in week three will be tough, especially given it will be week 3! So although the Pole seems to be pretty safe up there, it's still a long way to go for him!
Nonetheless, he'll enjoy the pink and white jerseys probably for at least three more days, as tomorrow is a flat stage, and it's unlikely he'll lose 10 minutes in two days. In the U25 standings, by the way, he still leads 10'34" ahead of Kristaps Budenieks and 17'35" ahead of Egan Bernal, as both finished in the same group as him today.
Arnaud Demare's face says it all - he is not happy about what happened today. Instead of taking his great chances for a stage win, he had to lead the chase for quite some kilometers - only to drop his team leader Arndt and finally having not enough left to compete himself for a stage result. A disappointing day for Team Puma - SAP. Nonetheless, the Frenchie defends his points jersey with his 111 points. However, Mathieu van der Poel has clearly closed in after his back-to-back stage wins, totalling 93 points. Emiliano Contreras slipped down to 3rd, 35 points behind the leader.
Tomorrow's sprint stage will be extremely important for the Magalia Ciclamino standings, with 50 points on offer for the stage winner!
Aleksandar Roman finally has it, the Maglia Azzurra! Coming short of the lead by just 3 points yesterday, he joined the breakaway once again and collected 11 points - meaning that he now leads with 42 points, 8 ahead of Petr Vakoc. Kamil Malecki, Kristaps Budenieks, Ian Boswell and Joey Rosskopf still share 3rd place with 26 points, now 16 points off the lead.
It was a perfect timing to claim this jersey, as with no points available on the next two stages, the Serb can be sure to still wear it at the start of week three!
It wasn't the best of days for Gazelle, but as cycleYorkshire and eBuddy, 2nd and 3rd pre-stage, had even worse days, they still extend their lead! Evonik - ELKO have moved up to 2nd, 10'49" back, whereas Team Puma - SAP are now 3rd, 11'35" behind. Let's see how that changes with stage 14...
But before that time trial which will without any doubt have a big impact on the GC, we have yet another sprint stage awaiting us tomorrow! Let's check out whether the sprinters can again triumph, or if the breakaway riders once again strike back!
Giro d'Italia 
