Threadjack! Dull sprint stage today with very little going on before the final 5km. I say thankfully because the alternative would be crashes. Nobody was going to actually race this stage into legend. Still, several tried to make it interesting, from the day's usual breakaway (headed by BMC's Daniel Oss and Eugert Zhupa of Wilier-Southeast, to Filippo Pozzato, who lunged for the line as the sprint teams continued to feign interest in a proper finish. Pozzato's move drew out Roger Kluge of IAM Cycling, whose timing was superior to the Italian's as he was able to finish what Pippo started, making it to the line alone just ahead of the sprinters, headed by Trek-Segafredo's Giacomo Nizzolo. For Kluge it's a long-awaited victory, and it comes a day after news broke that IAM Cycling won't continue after this year. A wee bit of kindness from fate for the unfortunate team. Nizzolo extended his lead in the points competition over Lampre's Diego Ulissi (standings to come), but faces three days of unfavorable conditions, which will test Nizzolo's ability to even remain in the race. Overall leader Steven Kruijswijk of LottoNL-Jumbo was undisturbed by today's proceedings, as were his rivals.
Results:
1. | KLUGE Roger | IAM | 04:31:29 | |
2. | NIZZOLO Giacomo | TFS | 00:00:00 | |
3. | ARNDT Nikias | TGA | 00:00:00 | |
4. | MODOLO Sacha | LAM | 00:00:00 | |
5. | TRENTIN Matteo | EQS | 00:00:00 | |
6. | PORSEV Alexander | KAT | 00:00:00 | |
7. | LIGTHART Pim | LTS | 00:00:00 | |
8. | NAVARDAUSKAS Ramunas | CPT | 00:00:00 | |
9. | BELLETTI Manuel | STH | 00:00:00 | |
10. | SIMION Paolo | BAR | 00:00:00 |
Molveno - Cassano d'Adda 196 km
Sprint or breakaway? Breakaway or sprint?
Magnificent Girbecco of the day: Eugert Zhupa
Official site, Stageinfo, Startlist