Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Thursday, May 19, 2022
Back to news and opinion index page for links to archived stories | Commentary | Our YouTube page
2021 Tour de France | 2022 Giro d'Italia
All anyone asks for is a chance to work with pride. - W. Edwards Deming
Les Woodland's book Sticky Buns Across America: Back-roads biking from sea to shining sea is available in print, Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Current racing:
- May 6 - 29: Giro d'Italia
Upcoming racing:
- May 21: Veenendaal - Veenendaal
- May 21: Tour du Finistère
Latest completed racing:
- 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
We posted the report from stage winner Alberto Dainese's Team DSM with the results.
Here’s the report from second-place Fernando Gaviria’s UAE Team Emirates:
Fernando Gaviria sprinted to 2nd place on Stage 11 of the Giro D’Italia, just being beaten by half a wheel length on the fast, flat run in to the line on a day which took the riders from Santarcangelo di Romagna to Reggio Emilia (203km).
Fernando Gaviria could not match Alberto Dainese's speed. Sirotti photo
The flattest road stage of the race with just 369 metres of climbing, the mid-point of the day featured some echelons as wind swept the open plains.
The elastic of the peloton would not snap and the bunch came back together after reeling in a lone attack by Dries De Bondt (Alpecin-Fenix).
Maximiliano Richeze stormed to the front of the bunch in the last 600m with Gaviria closely behind before opening the sprint with a tailwind behind. Italian Alberto Dainese (DSM) just got the better of Gaviria in the last metres, with Simone Consonni (Cofidis) rounding out the days podium.
Gaviria: “Second wasn’t the result we wanted but we have to accept it. The legs are good but today Dainese was just faster. There was a tailwind so we went a bit earlier than usual but he took a good win so well done to him. The form is where I want it to be and I’m really gunning to get a first victory here at this Giro.”
Meanwhile Joao Almeida conceded no time in the GC and sits at 3rd place on the same time as Richard Carapaz (Ineos-Grenadiers), 12’’ behind the Maglia Rosa of Juan Pedro Lopez (Trek-Segafredo).
Tomorrow Stage 12 brings the riders from Parma to Genova (202km) overall rolling terrain.
Content continues below the ads
Fourth-place Arnaud Démare’s Groupama-FDJ posted this update:
After two wins in a row in the bunch sprints of the Giro d’Italia, Arnaud Démare was unable to make it three in Reggio Emilia on Wednesday. After a 200-kilometre-long stage, without a slightest climb, the anticipated sprint did occur. The Groupama-FDJ lead-out train was perfectly on track in the final kilometres, but the French sprinter opened his sprint a bit too early to be able to take victory. He eventually secured fourth place, which enabled him to increase his lead in the points classification.
Arnaud Démare (shown before stage nine) remains the owner of the cyclamen points leader's jersey. Sirotti photo
For just one kilometre, stage 11 of the Giro was not the longest one of this year’s race. On the other hand, it surely had the flattest profile of this 2022 edition. Across Emilia-Romagna, the bunch was spared from any hilly terrain in a day made for the sprinters. Two men, namely Filippo Tagliani (Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli) and Luca Rastelli (Bardiani-CSF), attacked from the first hundred metres and established the day’s breakaway.
The peloton remained quite calm for some time before Clément Davy took control to set the pace. A little further on, Arnaud Démare picked up a few points in the intermediate sprint. Then, suddenly, the tension and the speed really increased as the riders approached Bologna, halfway through the race. The change of direction, an open area and the wind were enough for the GC teams to get in command, and the “morning” breakaway was quickly caught. “It was still a stressful stage”, said Arnaud Démare. “Many GC teams were in front and maintained a fairly high pace when approaching roundabouts and open areas. It was quite exhausting”.
“All the teams knew the situation very well, and that’s what caused a bit of tension,” added Sébastien Joly. “There was a real acceleration as we got out of Bologna, but everything came back to normal afterwards. We felt that no one really wanted to get into the fight until the finish. It settled down more or less, even if it remained nervous”.
The peloton remained all together for an hour or so, until Dries De Bondt decided to try a solo about fifty kilometres from the finish. The Belgian was given a lead of one minute and thirty seconds, then Clément Davy got back to the front of the bunch to lead the chase. The young Frenchman stayed there until the last ten kilometres and handed it over to Tobias Ludvigsson. “In the final, we had to change Ignatas’ bike,” explained Sébastien. “We got disorganized a bit, but he fought well and managed to get back to the top positions with the help of Attila and Clément”.
The Lithuanian champion was then able to lead the train to the last two kilometres. Miles Scotson closed the gap to Dries De Bondt shortly before the flamme rouge and then dropped Ramon Sinkeldam, Jacopo Guarnieri and Arnaud Démare in the lead with 800 metres left to go. “We had a clean approach to the sprint, the guys managed to wait for the right moment, and in the end, I actually wasn’t patient enough”, said the former French champion. “With 250 metres to go, I saw an opening and started my sprint. I saw Jacopo getting a bit blocked to the right, so I decided to go for it. I thought the line was closer than that, however. I also felt like I had more speed than the riders to my right, and I wanted to take advantage of that to gain ground. Eventually, I wasn’t just patient enough. Gaviria overtook me, and two others also did with the slipstream”.
On the line, Alberto Dainese (DSM) took the victory while the cyclamen jersey wearer took fourth place. “Jacopo told me that he still had the leg to launch me, I am disappointed that I wasn’t clear-minded enough to wait”, added Arnaud. “You can’t win every time. The cyclamen jersey is nice, but I was really aiming for the stage win. We still have things to achieve on this Giro”. “That’s also how sprints work, but we’re in the mix”, concluded Sébastien Joly. “We will still have two great opportunities over the next few days, although the terrain will be a bit more undulating”. In the points classification, the French sprinter now has a 77-point lead over his closest competitor, as Biniam Girmay was forced to retire this Wednesday morning.
Content continues below the ads
Here’s the report from Mark Cavendish’s Team Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl:
The peloton spent the entire Wednesday afternoon in the charming Emilia-Romagna, a region which more than five hundred years ago found itself at the center of Cesare Borgia’s ambitions, who was hoping to unite the entire Italian peninsula backed by his influent father, none other than Pope Alexander Vl.
Despite being pan-flat, the 196km journey from Santarcangelo di Romagna to Reggio Emilia wasn’t quite as straightforward as expected, due to a lurking danger of echelons inside the final 100 kilometers. At one point, many teams began scrambling for a position at the front as they increased the tempo, and came close to splitting the bunch, but in the end the only result was the original breakaway being brought back after just two hours spent up the road.
Mark Cavendish before the stage start. Sirotti photo
That was the cue for another rider to go clear, but the group kept him within reach at all times, and made sure it came down to a bunch sprint, won by Alberto Dainese (Team DSM). Mark Cavendish was again in the frame for Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl, finishing sixth for his third top 10 finish at this Giro, a result which elevated the 36-year-old Manxman to second in the points classification.
Content continues below the ads
And here's the stage 11 report from team Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert:
Despite a continuous risk of crosswinds on the entirely flat eleventh stage of the Giro d’Italia (2.UWT), a compact peloton sprinted for the victory in the streets of Reggio Emilia this Wednesday.
The peloton passes through the town of Cesena. Sirotti photo
The presence of the wind led to a lot of nervousness in the peloton, where the riders of Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux stayed united around its climbers Domenico Pozzovivo and Jan Hirt to enable them to reach the finish without incidents nor time loss.
At the end of the 203 kilometer stage, the seven riders of the Belgian World Team succeeded their mission, Pozzovivo and Hirt remain in eighth and fourteenth position in the provisional classification.
“It was a nervous day for the peloton as the wind was blowing so our riders stayed united. They succeeded in protecting Domenico Pozzovivo and Jan Hirt from danger so they could cross the finish line of this transition stage without time loss. In contrary to today, I see an opportunity for breakaways in the next two days and we are determined to show our characteristic agressive race style. I’m thinking about Lorenzo Rota or Loïc Vliegen, who can be in the mix with the best riders in the finals of hilly stages. The twelfth stage suits them and as we’ve learned during the first week, the pure sprinters are having difficulties to follow in the hilly stages. So I’m optimistic about their chances.” - Valerio Piva (Sports Director)
Back to news and opinion index page for links to archived stories | Commentary