Ben O’Connor won the 17th stage of the Giro d’Italia. The 24-year-old Australian managed to break away from his escape companions on the final climb and raised his arms alone at the finish in Madonna di Campiglio. No attack in the group of the best in the general classification, Joao Almeida remains in the pink jersey.
The 17th stage started from Bassano del Grappa to arrive in Madonna di Campiglio after 203 km, a high mountain hamlet with four Gpm and an uphill finish.
In the first kilometers an attack by 19: Sepulveda, Villella, Cataldo, Carretero, Dennis, Guerreiro, Ulissi, O’Connor, Meintjes, Gebreigzabhier, Vanhoucke, De Gendt, Frankiny, Hansen, Zakarin, De la Parte, Pernsteiner, Rodriguez and Bouchard.
At the top of the first two GPs, Guerreiro summited first and snatched the blue jersey from Visconti. During the descent from Monte Bondone (first category GPM, 20 km at 6.8% with peaks of 15%) he attacked Cataldo. The 35-year-old from Movistar arrives first at the finish line of Ponte Arche, where he is joined by six riders: Carretero, O’Connor, Dennis, Gebreigzabhier, Vanhoucke and Zakarin. After Passo Durone (Gpm in the third category of 10.4 km at 6%) the riders approach the final climb. The seven in the lead have been joined by Villella, Pernsteiner and De Gendt.
At 23 km from the finish, Rodriguez, Hansen, Bouchard, Frankiny and De la Parte take the lead. The fifteen escapees, with a 6 ‘advantage over the pink jersey group 12 km from the finish, battle it out on the final climb from Carisolo, a category 1 climb, with constant gradients of around 6.5%. O’Connor sprints and makes a gap. De Gendt, Pernsteiner and Zakarin remain in pursuit. The strongest of the trio is Pernsteiner, who tries unsuccessfully, to bridge.
For O’Connor it is the first career victory in a Grand Giro and fourth as a professional. Pernsteiner moved up in the general classification, now in eleventh position. The big names arrive together without fighting and Joao Almeida keeps the record with 17 “over rival Wilco Kelderman.
Stage
1 Ben O’CONNOR NTT PRO CYCLING 05:50:59 00:10 00:00
2 Hermann PERNSTEINER BAHRAIN – MCLAREN 05:51:30 00:06 00:31
3 Thomas DE GENDT LOTTO SOUDAL 05:52:09 00:07 01:10
4 Ilnur ZAKARIN CCC TEAM 05:52:12 00:01 01:13
5 Kilian FRANKINY GROUPAMA – FDJ 05:52:54 01:55
Overall
1 João ALMEIDA DECEUNINCK – QUICK – STEP 71:41:18 00:00
2 Wilco KELDERMAN TEAM SUNWEB 71:41:35 00:17
3 Jai HINDLEY TEAM SUNWEB 71:44:16 02:58
4 Tao GEOGHEGAN HART INEOS GRENADIERS 71:44:17 02:59
5 Pello BILBAO BAHRAIN – MCLAREN 71:44:30 03:12
Tomorrow is an alpine stage with over 5400m of variance in altitude, starting at Pinzolo and arriving after 207 km at Cancano Lakes in Stelvio National Park. Uphill start on Passo Campo Carlo Magno (cat 2 GPM) leading to Val di Sole. After 45 km the race will tackle the new Castrin / Hofmahdjoch pass (cat 1 GPM, 8.8 km at 9.7% ) which leads to Val d’Ultimo/Ultental. The long descent goes near Merano where another climb from Foresta/Forst to Val Venosta and climbs almost entirely. Then up to the Stelvio (2758m) from the most demanding side (almost 25km at 7.5% of which half over 2000m, Cima Coppi del Giro). Immediately after the very long descent is the final ascent towards the Cancano lakes (Gpm cat 1, 8.7 km at 6.8%). The climb leads to the Fraele Towers 2km from the finish. Two short tunnels and a short descent alongside flat Lago delle Scale. The last 500 meters are slightly uphill, at about 3.5%.
