Ending with a 17 kilometre time trial around Verona, the Giro had one last sting in its tail with a tricky parcours awaiting the riders today. The focal point of the route was a four and a half kilometre long climb that averaged over four percent in gradient. Over the top of the climb a sinuous and technical descent lead onto the flatter finish.
Chad Haga was first off the start ramp for the team and set a strong intermediate time on his Cervelo P5, only six seconds behind the best time at that point. Haga continued to pace himself well, taking the best possible lines on the tricky descent before powering along the flat to the finish. Setting a time of 22 minutes and seven seconds, it was enough to see the Team Sunweb rider move into the provisional lead, and into the hot-seat for the afternoon. Riders continued to come through the finish line but Haga’s time stood strong. With pre-stage favourite Roglic starting fourth last, it was a nervous wait for Haga and the team. However, the time set was more than good enough to secure the victory, with Haga taking his first Grand Tour stage win, putting Team Sunweb’s two Keep Challenging stripes back on the podium again. A great result for the whole team after everyone believed that the chances would come, keeping the faith all the way to Verona.
An elated Haga said the following at the finish: “It was a very fast course, with a lot of technical corners. The climb was very tough to pace, there was no rhythm on it and you had to constantly adjust your effort to the climb. The descent after the climb was very fast and technical. The extended recon I did for that paid off; I watched a video of it around twenty times this morning. After the last TT we knew this one would suit me more, so I’m very thankful for the team allowing me to save myself as much as possible over the last week for today. It’s been a hard Giro for us; we started well but then lost Tom, Rob, Louis and Sam. Since then we have been trying to salvage anything from the race. The win means a lot to me but it also means a lot to the team too, it redeems the Giro for us.”
Team Sunweb coach Marc Reef added: “Chad had been thinking of this day since the previous TT. He did a good recon this morning and studied the route thoroughly, watching it back on video several times to know every metre of the parcours. In the TT itself he paced himself very well; he didn’t really lose anything in the opening part, before doing a strong climb. It was the descent where he really made the difference and it shows that his effort studying the route paid off. This win is so deserved, Chad is such a selfless rider and always gives his all for the team so it is really nice to see him take the victory. We’re all very proud of this result as a team.”
1 HAGA Chad Team Sunweb 22:07 100
2 CAMPENAERTS Victor Lotto Soudal 0:04 40
3 DE GENDT Thomas Lotto Soudal 0:06 20
