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Friday, May 27, 2022

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2021 Tour de France | 2022 Giro d'Italia

He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson

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Current racing:

• May 6 - 29: Giro d'Italia
• May 24 - 29: Tour of Norway

Upcoming racing:

• June 1: Giro dell'Appennino
  

Latest completed racing:

• May 22: Rund um Köln
• May 21: Veenendaal - Veenendaal
• May 21: Tour du Finistère
• May 15: Tro-Bro Léon
• May 14: Grand Prix du Morbihan
• May 3 - 8: 4 Jours de Dunkerque
• April 26 - May 1: Tour de Romandie
• April 29 - May 1: Vuelta Asturias
• May 1: Rund um den Finanzplatz Eschborn - Frankfurt
• April 24: Liège-Bastogne-Liège

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Giro d'Italia Stage 18 team reports

We posted the report from second-place Edoardo Affini's Team Jumbo-Visma with the results.

Here's the update from GC leader Richard Carapaz's Team INEOS Grenadiers:

Richard Carapaz retained his overall lead at the Giro d’Italia after the breakaway prevailed on stage 18.

He's still in pink. Sirotti photo

Carapaz and the INEOS Grenadiers safely navigated a high-speed, technical finale in Treviso as the peloton chased a breakaway quartet that could not be caught.

Dries de Bondt (Alpecin Fenix) won the stage, with Carapaz and Ben Swift finishing towards the front of the peloton with the only change to the general classification coming as Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) was forced to abandon the race due to illness

Richard Carapaz:
 “It was a day of relative calm, we went very strong. I always checked the position of Landa and Hindley, I was afraid of possible gaps. I want to defend the Maglia Rosa until the end, I have confidence in my means.“

Here's the report from GC second place Jai Hindley's Team Bora-hansgrohe:

Today, at least on paper, was the last chance for the sprinters, with the 152km route from Borgo Valsugana to Treviso bringing ideal conditions for a bunch sprint. For the GC riders it was a relatively quiet day, to allow for some recovery ahead of tomorrow's mountain stage.

Although a bunch sprint was expected to decide today's outcome, the victor in Treviso was decided in the sprint from a breakaway quartet. Before the finale, BORA-hansgrohe had a moment of panic due to a mechanical problem for Jai Hindley. The Australian had a flat tire inside the final kilometres and lost contact with the peloton.

However, with the incident happening within the last 3km, he fortunately didn't lose time to Carapaz and remains second in the GC, 3 seconds behind the Ecuadorian rider.

Jai Hindley finishes stage 17. Sirotti photo

"From the profile, it was apparent that it could be a sprint stage today. But we also knew that the last two stages were quite challenging for the sprinter teams. That's why there was also a chance for the break today. De Bondt, Affini, Cort and Gabburo were very strong and in the end, the sprinter teams didn't have enough power left in this third week of the Giro.

"For us, it was all about getting Jai safely from A to B. He had a flat tire in the last three kilometres, but we were on the safe side here, by virtue of the rule which states that riders with a mechanical in the last 3km do not lose time. The next stages will be very challenging, and we are still extremely motivated to fight for the overall win." - Jens Zemke, Sports Director

Joao Almeida forced to retire from Giro d’Italia

Here’s the sad news from Almeida’s UAE Team Emirates:

The Portuguese, who suffered flu symptoms during the night, tested positive for Covid.

All the other members of the team, staff and riders, are negative.

Joao Almeida finishing stage 16. Sirotti photo

“Almeida woke up last night from persistent pain in his throat and the test gave a positive result. We observe strict rules of prevention and, in addition to sanitizing the environments which the team uses each day (cars, buses, hotel rooms, etc.), we keep the athletes themselves in single rooms in order to limit very close contacts. However, despite these precautions they clearly do not provide 100% shelter as we have seen, “ said Michele De Grandi, UAE Team Emirates doctor at the Giro d’Italia.

Mauro Gianetti, Team Principal: “We are obviously deeply upset because Joao and the supporting team were doing an excellent race. Our goals were the podium of the Giro and the white jersey as best young rider and we were fighting to win them both. It is bad news, but this is the reality we have been living every day for two years. We have to accept it and look forward. Now the most important thing is that Joao recovers as soon as possible ”.

And here’s the stage 18 report from Alberto Dainese’s Team DSM:

Alberto Dainese sprinted to fifth place on stage 18 of the Giro d’Italia, a day he’d marked out in the race being on home roads. A strong finishing sprint saw him win the group finish but unfortunately it was behind the day’s breakaway of four which managed to hold off the charging peloton to take the stage honors.

The day’s break got clear quite early into the day and initially the peloton set a very fast pace behind to control the gap before relenting and allowing things to relax. Team DSM were amongst the chasers controlling the gap throughout the day but as the pace picked up over the hills with around 50 kilometers to race the gap jumped out again and the peloton set about defending it.

Despite a hard chase in the run in, one which saw the peloton split in the run in, the break of four out front fought hard to hold enough of an advantage to fight out the stage win amongst themselves. Just a handful of seconds behind, Dainese sprinted home to take fifth.

Alberto Dainese wins stage 11. Sirotti photo

After the race Dainese commented: “It was my home stage today which was special for me. We went in with a plan to race for a sprint and the guys did a good job to control the breakaway early on and then during the stage but it ended up being hard to close with really strong guys up front. I’m really disappointed to come away with fifth winning the bunch sprint but it’s the best we could do today.”

Team DSM coach Matt Winston added: “The breakaway rode really smart today so compliments to them for that. Every team went all in in the chase behind but it just wasn’t to be. The guys did a really good job controlling things but we lost two guys from the front when the race split on the descent. Then up front Alberto did well to win the bunch sprint but today just wasn’t our day.”

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