As has been discussed previously the organizers of this Giro don’t do easy mountain stages. And the 7th summit finish is no exception, 203k, 2 Cat 1’s, 2 Cat 2’s and a Cat 1 finish at Tre Cime di Lavaredo.
Along with the Maglia Rosa, the Maglia Ciclamina and Azzurra have been pretty much decided for a while. The White Jersey could still move but Sivakov and Bernal have been evenly matched in the last few stages. Only the team jersey is definitely in play today.
Of course, while this race has been marked by certainty in first there has been plenty of uncertainty in 2nd and 3rd. With 2nd place changing hands 9 times among 8 different riders. And 3rd, 7 times among 7 riders.
GC Podium History
S1
Arnaud Demare
Simon Yates
Cees Bol
S2
Arnaud Demare
Cees Bol
Alberto Dainese
S3
Arnaud Demare
Eduard Grosu
Simon Yates
S4
Arnaud Demare
Eduard Grosu
Simon Yates
S5
Arnaud Demare
Eduard Grosu
Simon Yates
S6
Egan Bernal
Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier
Angel Madrazo
S7
Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier
Egan Bernal
Angel Madrazo
S8
Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier
Egan Bernal
Angel Madrazo
S9
Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier
Egan Bernal
Fredrik Strand Galta
S10
Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier
Egan Bernal
Pavel Sivakov
S11
Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier
Fredrik Strand Galta
Pavel Sivakov
S12
Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier
Fredrik Strand Galta
Pavel Sivakov
S13
Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier
Fredrik Strand Galta
Pavel Sivakov
S14
Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier
Fredrik Strand Galta
Pavel Sivakov
S15
Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier
Sam Oomen
Pavel Sivakov
S16
Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier
Fredrik Strand Galta
Sam Oomen
S17
Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier
Fredrik Strand Galta
Sam Oomen
S18
Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier
Pavel Sivakov
Sam Oomen
S19
Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier
Sam Oomen
Pavel Sivakov
But the GC stretched a little on stage 19 so maybe less movement today, a minute or more between most of the contenders with the notable exception of Bernal in 5th who trails Madrazo by just 1 second (and only leads Galta by 31 seconds). The full top 10 looks like this:
1
Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier
Evonik - ELKO
87h45'36
2
Sam Oomen
Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam
+ 4'45
3
Pavel Sivakov
Tinkoff - La Datcha Team
+ 5'53
4
Angel Madrazo
Bralirwa - Stevens
+ 6'59
5
Egan Bernal
Polar
+ 7'00
6
Fredrik Strand Galta
MOL Cycling Team
+ 7'31
7
Warren Barguil
Team UBS
+ 8'30
8
Jan Hirt
Moser - Sygic
+ 9'43
9
Louis Meintjes
De Stijl Cycling
+ 11'24
10
Neilson Powless
Zwift Pro Cycling
+ 12'55
Most of these same guys make up the stage favorites, with Kirsch, who had a good day yesterday, replacing Powless.
It takes 5k for the first movement, maybe the rain discouraging the riders, but then the attacks start coming, many familiar names showing up. 6 riders in this group and another 4 behind. We will recap once things settle down.
And once the attacks start coming, they don’t stop for a while. 20k in and 38 riders in the break. A lot of the regulars but Moser and MOL, who have primarily ridden the GC are represented for the first time.
Aegon:
Goos, Carboni
Aker-MOT:
Amezawa, Primozic, Van Poucke
cycleYorkshire:
Kennaugh
De Stijl:
Elosegui
EA:
Rucigaj, Smit,
ELCO:
Giannoutsos, Mavrikakis (20th on GC), Ioannidis, Kastrantas
Herregodts, Smith (18th), Roglic (19th), Fung, Phodingam
Los Pollos:
Kelderman
Moser:
Prado
MOL:
Pereyra, McNulty, Stancu
Polar:
Putti
UBS:
Abdurrahman
Zwift:
Lopez
18 of the 24 teams present in the break. Missing are Evonik, Lierse, Tinkoff, Bralirwa, Puma and Duolingo. The first four make sense maybe some yelling coming from Duolingo and Puma team directors. Right now a 5-3 advantage for King Power in the teams competition. Isostar haven’t missed this one so if Evonik wants to catch this they might actually have to work themselves.
Evonik with pretty much the whole team on the front but they aren’t chasing hard and with 160k to ride the break have 5’24. Sendeku messing up the Evonik postcard.
The lead is only 5’07 as the break reaches the first climb, the Passo Costalunga (26.6k at 5.6%). ISA-Hexacta don’t seem to want the break getting too far ahead.
Lammertink won’t be denied his TV time today. He is the first dropped. The lead is out to 6’55.
5k to climb for the break. Carboni on the front now, earlier MOL was driving the pace. The gap is 6’39 with De Stijl helping ISA-Hexacta in the peloton. Smits, Lastra, Herregodts and Putti all dropped from the break. The peloton already down to 76 riders. Sterbini last on the road, he is over 13 minutes down on the break and about 7 minutes down on the peloton.
Smith leads a King Power train over the top of the climb. The break down to 20 we will see if they regroup. A short descent then the first cat 2. Peloton at 6’48.
Sendeku leads then 66-rider peloton over the top. But the chasing relented for some of the climb and the lead is back to 7’45.
The break is 22 strong as they start the Passo di San Pellegrino (10.4k at 6.4%, so on the harder end for a Cat 2). There is a 10-rider group 1’12 back that might still rejoin. It is now 4-2 King Power in the teams competition.
As the peloton reaches the climb with 94k to go Eyob hits the front. Madrazo has been getting stronger throughout the race maybe he fancies one last push at the podium. The gap is 6’28.
Lecuisinier punctures 6k from the top.
Luckily for him he got a quick change and within a k he is able to pace himself back up to the main chase group, pretty much on his own. But a few matches burned for him and the team. The peloton down to just 46 riders. The gap is 6’40.
All 4 King Power riders attack near the top. Smith takes the points. Sosnitskiy is dropped meaning it is now 4-1 to King Power.
Very challenging conditions on the descent. The breakaway being led down by Roglic and Smith who can just be seen in the fog. The other 15 survivors are Fung and Phodingam for King Power plus Geoghegan Hart, Petelin, McNulty, Stancu, Nesset, Goos, Carboni, Amezawa, Vervaeke, Rucigaj, Martinez, Mavrikakis, and Giannoutsos
The chasing teams have run out of chasers for now and the lead is 8’09.
The break is back to 22 as they reach the next climb. And the rain has stopped which is a good thing because this is the Passo Giau, 16.1k at 7.7%. The riders rejoining are Van Poucke, Primozic, Sosnitskiy, Prado and Schelling. ISA-Hexacta have been drilling it on the descent and flat and the lead is back down to 5’57.
5k to climb, 44k in the stage for the break. Van Poucke was dropped a while back and Schelling, Primozic, Martinez, Prado and Carboni just dropping off the back now. Stancu has been leading for a while. Behind the peloton at 7’09, Vosekalns on the front, a name we haven’t heard much from.
Vervaeke, Sosnitskiy, Phodingam and Smith are dropped soon after, Gazelle gone from the break but King Power still have Fung and Roglic up front. But they have nobody left in the peloton where Gazelle has 4 more riders.
2k to climb, Stancu still giving it his all and has the break down to 8, McNulty had better have something to pay back Stancu's work. The other survivors are Amezawa, Geoghegan Hart, Goos, Mavrikakis, Nesset and Rucigaj. Roglic looks like he dropped back voluntarily to help Smith. 31-rider peloton at 7’31 with Elosegui on the front.
And then there were 4. Geoghegan Hart, McNulty, Stancu, and Amezawa reach the top first. Already 1’20 up on the next group. Some of the other guys feeling their multiple days in the break. From here about 20k downhill, then an 8k Cat 2 and then 18k of flat and the 10k climb to the finish. Peloton at 7’35 all the top 20 either in that group or ahead of them.
20k to go for the four leaders, they are on the Cat 2. Nesset, Goos, Rucigaj, and Mavrikakis at 1’05. A 6-rider group including the 4 King Power riders at 2’34. If they can stay ahead of the peloton, it should be enough to take back the team’s jersey. The two Gazelle riders at 3’20. The peloton with 2 more Gazelle riders has crested the Passo Giau and is at 8’20.
700 meters later Geoghegan Hart attacks and Stancu is dropped.
About the same place that Geoghegan Hart attacked the break, Bongiorno and Meintjes attack the peloton. Stancu was the only victim of Geoghegan Hart’s move, Gazelle chasing this move in the peloton.
Figueiredo shuts down the initial attack and immediately Hirt and Bernal counter.
And the rest of the top GC contenders decide they have to respond to Bernal. Up front Stancu has rejoined the front three.
It comes back together and Bernal attacks again. Galta responds, he might be regretting that his two best domestiques are up the road.
Up front Geoghegan Hart attacks again and this time gets a gap. He has 1.3k to the top of this climb. Also, the two Gazelle riders have joined the King Power group.
Geoghegan Hart reaches the top of the climb with a 54-second lead over the next three. With a descent and some relatively flat kilometers at the beginning of the next climb to come they may have a chance to get back to him. Behind Bernal has opened up a 1-minute lead on the Pink Jersey group which has prompted a counter from Sivakov, who’s White jersey is at risk. Sosnitskiy has been dropped by the King Power group.
9.7k to ride for Geoghegan Hart, Stancu has closed the gap to 37 seconds and they are on the final climb of the Giro, the Tre Cime di Lavaredo. It is 10k in total at 6.3%, but really it is two climbs with the first 6k being pretty flat, except for one brief section, and the last 6k being very steep with grades up to 18%. Behind, Bernal is now 1’05 ahead of Sivakov and over 3 minutes ahead of the Pink Jersey group where they are all playing chicken. Vervaeke has been dropped by the King Power group. With the peloton dropping back this isn’t looking good for Gazelle in the team’s competition.
7k to ride, the front four are on the hard part of the easy part of the climb. Stancu got the gap down to 21 seconds but has cracked. The other two are going to have to close the rest themselves. The next group is 2’06 down. Bernal is 5 minutes behind, he has 1’01 on Sivakov and 4’24 on the Pink Jersey group where Galta is putting a little effort in now they are on the flat. Bernal and Sivakov are still well off the virtual Pink, but virtual White is in the balance.
Vervaele has rejoined the King Power group, but Figueiredo has been dropped from the Pink Jersey group which is further damaging Gazelle’s position. All of the top 20 are either in or ahead of the Pink Jersey group.
4.2k to climb for the leaders, they are starting the steep section now. Stancu gone, Amezawa working, the gap is 28 seconds. Sivakov is closing in on Bernal. Meintjes has attacked the Pink jersey group, and already has 1’42 as nobody has reacted – he needs almost 2 minutes to move up in the GC.
With 6.4k to climb the T-1000 activates. He is 5’26 down on Bernal. Geoghegan Hart is holding his gap over the other two. Sivakov has stopped gaining ground on Bernal.
2.4k to climb for the leaders, McNulty closes the last few meters to Geoghegan Hart. First time in the wind all day for the American, has he judged this one to perfection? Amezawa still looking good and will have a say. Stancu a minute down, the next 4 at 2’40. These three will decide the race. Behind Lecuisinier is 30 second clear of what was the Pink Jersey group and already has Bernal’s lead under 5 minutes.
McNulty is dancing on the pedals as Amezawa cracks. The gap is 16 seconds. McCormick team management are making desperate calls to the sponsors to make sure they are focused on this and not the debacle at the USA Pro Cycling Challenge.
2.7k for Bernal, he is moving through the remnants of the King Power group, where Smith, after a long rest on the wheels of his teammates is taking off and has caught what was the third group on the road. Of those, Rucigaj is proving strongest and has left the other 3 behind (Goos, Mavrikakis, Nesset). Giannoutsos and Petelin who were being towed along by King Power are also looking good. Sivakov is 55 seconds behind, his lead over Bernal to open the day was 1’07. Right now, he is holding on to White and moving up to 2nd in the GC. Lecuisinier is at 4’10 behind Bernal the rest of the GC contenders, being led by Madrazo, are at 5’03.
1000 meters for McNulty, the 18% gradients are over, they ease off from here on in but all 3 leaders are laboring. McNulty’s lead has been around 34 seconds for the last 1k or so. The King Power/Bernal group can be seen below, between them and the front are Stancu and Rucigaj, currently 4th and 5th on the road. Behind, Sivakov’s shoulders are rocking and Bernal has both virtual White and 2nd place. Oomen started the day 2’15 up on Bernal, he currently has a deficit of 4’09. Meintjes is the last rider who can be seen in the picture.
Powless (10th on GC), Kirsch (12th) and Almeida (13th) have been dropped from the main chase group. Bongiorno (11th) and Karnulin (14th) are still there, along with the rest of the top 10 excepting those who are up the road.
300 meters still for McNulty but his gap is up to 43 seconds and he feels like he can take the time to show off the jersey. MOL have only been in one break all race but they have played it perfectly. McNulty finished it off but Stancu may be the hero of the day.
1.8k to go for the main chase group and Madrazo has dragged them back up to Lecuisinier, but the Frenchman is putting down a torrid pace on steep gradients.
Brandon McNulty wins Stage 20 of the Giro. Amezawa has the edge behind.
In the main chase group Hirt is the first of the top 10 to show weakness.
Amezawa takes 2nd, he has come close to the win in the break 3 times but never quite found the right formula. He does secure 2nd in the KOM competition. Isostar have not got it right in the breaks this race since Gayral’s early adventures. Today Geoghegan Hart perhaps bet on himself too much or maybe he just needed Stancu as a teammate. He settles for third on the stage but stands to gain in the GC.
PHL draws away from the other GC riders with 1.1k to climb, Oomen is fading, he looks to be losing his podium today as Sivakov is 1’56 ahead and Bernal 3’03, both more than enough to pass him. But more importantly that gap means Sivakov still has a short at White.
Stancu holds on for 4th, brilliant stuff from him today.
Rucigaj takes 5th, Bernal finds something extra and dances home in 6th. He seems to be gaining on Sivakov in the closing meters but final timing will determine the destination of the White Jersey and 2nd place.
Giannoutsos leads home the next group. Finishing behind him are Nesset, Mavrikakis, Roglic, Smith and Goos (7th to 12th on the stage). King Power with two in and two more on the road in front of the first Gazelle rider. The team’s jersey looking good for them after a great combined performance in the breakaway. Sivakov can be seen rounding the last hairpin.
Lecuisinier has passed Meintjes and is putting big time into the others. Oomen has lost 26 seconds to Galta, Barguil and Madrazo but he had over two minutes on all of them to begin the day and should be safe enough from them, but the podium is probably gone.
Sivakov edges Petelin for 13th. But he loses 1’17 on Bernal, enough to give the Colombian the White Jersey by 10 seconds.
Even Lecuisinier looks tired as he finishes in 15th. Not his best day but the jersey was never really in any danger, his GC gap is a very safe 5’29.
Smith and Meintjes take 16th and 17th. Meintjes will have to wait on Hirt to see if he gains a place in the GC.
Barguil sprints away from Madrazo and Galta for 18th. The 24 seconds he gains isn’t enough to move him out of 7th on GC.
Karnulin also catches them with a strong finish. Galta and Madrazo and settle for 20th and 21st. Madrazo started the day 1 second ahead of Bernal but loses 2’42 and drops from 4th to 5th in GC. Better than it looked mid-race but not what he was hoping for 21 days ago. Galta faded in the last few days but holds his 6th place today. Still a good day for MOL.
In addition, Karnulin passes Phodingnam in the final straight, but that isn’t enough to save the team’s jersey. In the end King Power gains over 10 minutes on the day and goes back in front by 8’14. Only something strange in a breakaway tomorrow could change that.
Oomen struggles home in 23rd, he pays for his big efforts yesterday. He loses 3’06 to Bernal and 1’49 to Sivakov and drops to 4th. A hard last day in the mountains for him but he does more than enough to hold off Madrazo, losing just 24 seconds. 4th on the GC and a stage win is a nice amount of points stolen for the PCT rider.
The young riders scoring big today, as McNulty wins the stage and Bernal and Sivakov secure 2nd and 3rd on the GC.
Hirt loses 6’58 to the stage winner and 1’35 to Meintjes, which means he saves 8th place by 6 seconds.
The stage may not have worked out for Geoghegan Hart, but he does gain 5 spots in the GC all the way up to 10th. The losers include Powless (10th to 12th), Kirsch (12th to 15th) and Almeida (13th to 17th).
Dion Smith will win the KOM competition ahead of the Aker duo of Amezawa and Van Poucke. He adds a Blue jersey to go with his Polka Dot one form the Tour de France.
Lecuisinier scores just 1 point and stays in 3rd in the points competition, he could lose 1 spot tomorrow. Demare will win that competition.
Giro d’Italia 
