Starting on an air force base, on stage 15 of the Giro d’Italia it wouldn’t just be fighter jets gaining altitude today. The 185km parcours covered four categorized climbs, including a first category summit finish, featuring an average gradient of 7.8% over its 14.5km length, with maximum gradients hitting 14% in the mid-section. There would likely be attacks on this climb from the GC contenders, who could use the race’s second and final rest day tomorrow to recover from their efforts. After the fighter jets had put on a display with the green, white and red of the Italian flag, it was straight into racing, with eleven riders striving to form the day’s break and the peloton doing all they could to stop them. Eventually, the bunch couldn’t hold them, and this group set about building a lead that hit 6:30 at its peak, and while there were some strong riders in this group, the peloton had their eye on the finale and so set about reducing their lead, hitting three minutes with 50km to go. With the final climb where the fireworks were bound to be set off in the overall race, it was important to be in position on the climb to Piancavallo and its tough lower slopes. The GC riders were gearing up for their fight on the summit finale as they slowly swept up the break, the last of their number caught with less than 10km left. By this point, four groups of GC riders had formed on the road. Attacks came, and as some of the favorites struggled. Many of the overall contenders lost time and places in the GC standings.
Results
01 T.Geoghegan Hart 4h58’52”
02 W.Kelderman + 0:02
03 J.Hindley + 0:04
…
05 R.Majka + 1:22
06 P.Konrad + 1:29
From the Finish Line
“Today was a day to grit my teeth and hold on during the last climb. After yesterday’s time trial my legs were in good shape and I was able to stay close to the GC leaders. I kept my position in the overall standings and I was in the front on such a hard climb.” – Rafał Majka
“Today’s stage was full-on right from the start and, in my view, it has been the hardest one so far in the Giro. Our focus was on the final climb and I think Rafał and I did well, we managed to drop some of the main GC contenders. I look forward to tomorrow, a rest day.” – Patrick Konrad
“It was an exciting stage, up and down all day. We brought our two GC riders to the final climb, 14km long, and from there it was up to everybody’s legs. The front group of 25 riders exploded completely and when the leading trio went ahead, Rafał was the last rider to remain with Almeida. He rode behind Almeida, alone, was then caught by Masnada but was able to distance him and finish fifth. I think it was a big performance by Rafał while Patrick came in behind him, ahead of the Nibali group. Overall, it was a day where we didn’t win much but didn’t lose much either.” – Jens Zemke, Sports Director
