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Thursday, May 18, 2023

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2022 Tour de France | 2022 Giro d'Italia

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Giro d'Italia Stage eleven team reports

We posted the report from GC leader Geraint Thomas' Team INEOS Grenadiers with the results.

Here's the report from stage winner Pascal Ackermann's UAE Team Emirates:

UAE Team Emirates took its first victory of this year’s Giro d’Italia with Pascal Ackermann sprinting home to win stage 11 from Camaiore to Tortona (219km).

The German sprinter benefitted from a superb leadout from Ryan Gibbons who expertly navigated the final kilometres to deliver Ackermann to take his first Grand Tour win in UAE colours.

Stage winner Pascal Ackermann. Sirotti photo

The race was held under tough conditions which saw many riders on the ground in various crashes including Alessandro Covi who was able to remount and successfully finish the stage. He was checked-over by team medical staff after the line and was later brought to a local hospital for further checks with results pending.

Joao Almeida moves up to 3rd place behind race leader Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) after the withdrawal of Tao Geoghegan Hart (Ineos-Grenadiers). The Portuguese rider continues to lead the white jersey classification.

Ackermann: “I’m so happy with this one. It was a nervous finish. Gibbons did an amazing job bringing me to the front and I saw that Cavendish was moving out so I used his wheel as a leadout. I’m so happy to show that I’m still here. My morale is sky-high now and I’m savouring this victory, it’s been a long time coming.”

Tomorrow the Giro continues with another medium mountain stage from Bra to Rivoli (179km).

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Here's the Giro report from GC second-place Primoz Roglic's Team Jumbo-Visma:

Primoz Roglic was involved in a crash in the eleventh stage of the Giro d'Italia. Several riders crashed on a wet descent, and the Slovenian could not avoid a collision. Roglic was back on his bike almost immediately and licked his wounds at the finish in Tortona.

"At first glance, it seems to end without serious consequences. It is unfortunate that Primoz was involved in this crash today, but we are lucky that he is not seriously injured", Addy Engels said.

Primoz Roglic at the stage start. Sirotti photo

Immediately after the finish, the Dutch sports director reflected on the eleventh stage, which suddenly changed from a typical sprinter's ride to a hectic stage. "On a day when you think it is going to be smooth, it is chaos again. Suddenly something happened with far-reaching consequences. Riders are crashing all the time in this Giro, which has resulted in numerous withdrawals. We're doing everything we can to stay healthy and in one piece, but we can't completely control bad luck. Today's events will certainly affect the rest of the Giro. We will have to see how to deal with it."

The sports director referred to the crash of Tao Geoghegan Hart, who went down with Roglic and general classification leader Geraint Thomas.

Koen Bouwman saw at close quarters that the Ineos rider was badly banged up. "It didn't look good. I immediately gave Primoz my bike so he could continue on his way. Then I saw Hart lying on the ground. I asked him if there was anything I could do. He quickly said that it was all over for him. It is very unfortunate that someone literally falls out of the Giro. It was another hectic day. We've had too much of that this Giro", Bouwman said.

German Pascal Ackermann won the stage. In the finishing straight in Tortona, he pushed his bike across the line just ahead of Italian Jonathan Milan.


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Here's the Giro stage eleven report from Team Bora-hansgrohe:

The longest stage of the Giro took the riders from the Tuscan coast through Liguria into Piedmont. The 219 km long route featured three climbs on the way to Tortona, and was one of the last chances for the sprinters. After the abandon of Aleksandr Vlasov yesterday, it was up to BORA - hansgrohe to bring their sole leader Lennard Kämna to the finish safely and without losing time.

The peloton speeds up the western side of Italy. Sirotti photo

This was achieved once again, and was all the more important considering that yet more riders crashed in the rain again today. The race started with a short fight for the escape group with six riders eventually going clear from the field. However, their break attempt failed 4 km before the finish when the last leading rider was caught and it came to the expected mass sprint, which was taken out by P. Ackermann. Lennard Kämna crossed the finish line in the peloton, and due to the abandon of T. Geoghegan Hart today, he moved up one place in the overall classifiation to sixth position.

"It was a long day today and we were prepared for the worst again weather-wise. I have to admit, I actually started out too wrapped up, and we saw again today for the first time that the sky is actually blue and not grey. And then of course, as it is here at this year's Giro, in the finale, a bit of rain came down again. All in all, though, it was actually not too bad. Our goal was to get through safely. That's why we invested a bit in the finale to get around the front. That also worked out well. I entered the roundabout first for the final two kilometres, with Lenni on my rear wheel, so we were safe and didn't really notice the crash in the end." - Nico Denz

"Today for us it was all about getting safely from the start to the finish, especially because some riders of us had a really hard day yesterday. From there, we used the day to catch our breath because we know what's coming up in the second half of the Giro." - Jens Zemke, Sports Director


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And here's the medical update on the riders of Team Soudal Quick-Step:

Soudal Quick-Step is disappointed to announce that four more riders from its Giro d’Italia squad have tested positive for Covid-19 and will leave the race.

Following the positive test of maglia rosa Remco Evenepoel on Sunday, a further round of tests were made on the riders and staff that remained in Italy, with Jan Hirt, Josef Cerny, Louis Vervaeke and Mattia Cattaneo unfortunately unable to continue.

Remco Evenepoel hours before he had to withdraw from the Giro. Sirotti photo

Team doctor Toon Cruyt said: "After the positive of Remco on Sunday evening, we had two more riders who were feeling unwell on Monday morning, but were negative on antigen tests. Therefore a PCR test was carried out on the seven remaining riders, the results of which showed that the four guys were positive. We will continue to monitor and implement our testing protocol on the three riders and staff that remain at the race."

We wish them all the best for their recovery, and the best of luck to the riders that remain in the race.

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