Lotto Soudal could celebrate a fourth time in the Giro d’Italia today. André Greipel finished off another stunning team performance and so the Belgian team already obtained its fourth stage win. The stage itself ran like the classic sprint outcome. Two riders managed to set up a break almost immediately after the start. In the meantime, Lotto Soudal controlled the lead in the background. At 22 kilometres from the finish the escapees were caught as the peloton prepared itself for the expected bunch sprint. A crash took place in the final kilometres and therefore a split occurred in the peloton. Nevertheless, the whole team was able to do the perfect sprint preparation in a tricky finale. Greipel won the sprint, Caleb Ewan finished second and Giacomo Nizzolo third. It’s already the sixth win for the German sprinter this season. Bob Jungels maintains the pink leader’s jersey.
André Greipel: “The team did an amazing job today. Firstly, Pim Ligthart pulled at the front of the peloton and he managed to bridge the gap to the leaders. We really aimed to reel in the escapees before entering the local laps as we wanted to lead the peloton during these two laps with several difficult corners. That turned out very well. In the final kilometres, Tim Wellens and Lars Bak determined the pace. At three kilometres from the finish Adam Hansen took over and he pulled till one and a half kilometre from the end. After that Sean De Bie did his part of the job and finally Jürgen Roelandts made a great lead-out, although there was a strong headwind. We decided beforehand that Jürgen would take the final corner as first and then I would give full gas in the sprint. I think we can be very proud with this fourth stage win. For me, this Giro was very successful with three victories.”
The Gorilla obtained three impressive stage wins in this Giro d’Italia and was first in the points classification. After this stage there aren’t a lot of sprint opportunities left and therefore Greipel decided together with the team to abandon the race. The German won’t start in tomorrow’s stage to take some rest before focusing on his next goals. Also Jürgen Roelandts abandons this year’s Giro tonight with his coming goals in mind.
André Greipel: “Together with the team I decided to abandon this year’s Giro tonight. This stage race really obtained an important place in my racing schedule since last year and it’s one of my great goals during the season. But the following nine stages will mainly be something for the GC riders. The fact that I’m wearing the red points jersey makes it a hard decision but we need to be realistic and find a good balance. The season isn’t over yet and I have the aim to perform on the highest level until October. I’m very satisfied with the three victories and I’m going home with a very good feeling. The past few weeks with this team were just amazing, we had a wonderful time. I want to thank the Giro organization for their very attractive stages and the incredible crowd for their huge encouragements. But I also want to thank my teammates and the Lotto Soudal staff for their work and support. I hope that they’re able to continue this Giro in a nice way.”
A tough stage was scheduled today in the Tour of Norway as a hard climb of the first category was situated at 20 kilometres from the finish. There were a lot of attempts to set up a break right from the beginning but no one managed to get away. Eventually, a five-man break was formed and Gert Dockx was part of it. Just before the final climb of the day the escapees were caught. After that several attempts were made, among others Tomasz Marczynski tried to get away. Then, Pieter Weening attacked and no one was able to follow him. The Dutch rider won the stage and he’s the new leader on GC. Sander Armée finished fifth in today’s stage and is now tenth on GC.
