It was a second day in a row for Tinkoff in the escape today, as another flat stage brought out the breakaway riders looking for a stage win. While much of the stage was flat, a finishing circuit that took in some testing and energy-sapping climbs at the end of the longest day of the Giro would show who was going to have the legs to contest the win. Today saw Pavel Brutt, in his second break in two days, joined by Jay McCarthy and Ivan Rovny. Ivan looked strong, and on for another result after his second place on stage 10, but after overshooting a corner late on he was left chasing and eventually finished in sixth spot.
Pavel Brutt
With a similar profile to stage 11, where the innocent-looking stage surprised many with its sting in the tail, there was every chance of a repeat performance today on the Giro d’Italia’s longest day. The 244km stage was flat for the first 170km, but it was after this that the action was doubtless going to take place.
The parcours showed only one categorised climb – the second category Pramartino – but as difficult as this climb was, with its 17% maximum gradient and average gradient of 10.5% over its 4.65km length, it was the final climb of the day that was going to play a huge part in deciding the stage winner – and maybe even impact on the GC standings as well. The ascent to San Maurizio on the Via Principi d’Acaja reached gradients of 20% on a cobblestone road. While the climb was only short, coming at the end of such a long day in the saddle would make it exceptionally difficult – especially as it was part of a finishing circuit the peloton would climb twice.
With a flat start to the day, a breakaway was inevitable, and amongst a group of twenty-four riders were three from Tinkoff – Jay McCarthy, Ivan Rovny and for the second day in a row, Pavel Brutt was part of the escape group. With strength in numbers, this group quickly amassed more than six minutes on the peloton, and growing steadily – by the time 50km of the stage had been covered, the break had more than nine minutes on the peloton.
Sport Director, Tristan Hoffman stated yesterday that being in the break would be important, and was pleased with how his riders responded. “It was a perfect situation for us – 24 in front and we had three guys there which was super. Brutt was up there for the second day after a day full gas yesterday which was really impressive, and Jay was also there which was nice to see and good for him.”
While the profile was flat, the scenery was nothing short of stunning. The break had little time to enjoy the landscape however, with a pace of almost 50km/h in the break, driving the gap for the escapees to more than 11 minutes.
Rovny
With 40km left to race, and in response to an attack from within the breakaway group, Pavel Brutt went out in front with another of the break’s members. After a few kilometres Pavel went it alone, testing the rest of the escape. While the gap was approaching only twenty seconds, it was clear the Russian rider was easily keeping the breakaway at bay, making the first climb of the Via Principi d’Acaja on his own and with the chasing group having to dig deep.
With the Pramartino to come, and its testing slopes, Pavel was coined by a chase group behind with his teammates, Jay McCarthy and Ivan Rovny, on the climb. The breakaway still had a comfortable advantage of thirteen minutes over the peloton with 20km remaining, when the first big move came from the front on the climb, with two riders pulling clear and got a gap with Ivan Rovny and Jay McCarthy chasing behind.
As the escapees crested the Pramartino, Ivan Rovny went to try and pull them back in as part of a group of four. With the advantage the descent gave them, the gap dropped to sixteen seconds with 5km of the stage to go. With extra leg power over the duo at the front of the race, there was a chance of making the catch, but much would depend on how each group performed on the second pass of the Via Principi d’Acaja.
While the chasers reduced the gap, disaster struck when Ivan ran wide on the ninety-degree cobblestone bend and slid into the barriers. While unhurt, Ivan had lost the momentum he needed to carry on the chase, while his group lost one of their strongest members. In spite of this, Ivan quickly picked up the pace and at the finish claimed sixth place, only seconds after the last of the chasers crossed the line.
On one of the last stages where the terrain suited a move like this, Hoffman was happy that the team took the opportunities today. “They did a good race, but at the end there were a few others that were a bit stronger. Ivan was together with the winner in the downhill but had to unclip in a corner at the base of the final climb. The others got a gap and he couldn’t get back. I’m happy because this was one of the last stages for these guys to try something and they were really focused at the start to make sure they got into the move. Ok, we didn’t win but we did our best.”
With the breakaway across the line more than thirteen minutes before, it was the GC riders coming to the finish. Sprinting to ensure none of the GC contenders took a second or two on the overall standings, Rafal Majka crossed the line with his rivals, all of them taking the same time.
The Giro has been a strong team effort so far, and today was no different, explained Hoffman. “The guys behind that were with Rafa did a perfect lead out into the climb to keep him in position, and he was never in difficulty so it’s a good sign for two days to come – we still have hopes of the podium.”
Tomorrow sees the race return to the mountains for its first day in the Alps. The fearsome Colle Dell’Agnello – the ‘Cima Coppi’ of this year’s Giro d’Italia – dominates the profile, with the road going skywards almost from the start of the stage. The 21.3km climb will be the day’s talking point, with a maximum gradient of 15% and the upper slopes averaging 9.3%. The summit marks the point the race will cross over into France for the remainder of the day, an excursion that starts with a long descent down the French side of the climb, before the first category ascent to the ski resort of Risoul for the uphill finish.
“Tomorrow will be tough,” said Hoffman. “A very long first climb and then the mountain top finish in Risoul, where Rafa won at the Tour two years ago. We are hopeful he can do something and we’ll see how the race develops.”
Stage Result
1. Matteo Trentin (ITA) Etixx-Quick-Step 05:25:34
2. Moreno Moser (ITA) Cannondale Pro Cycling +00:00:00
3. Gianluca Brambilla (ITA) Etixx – Quick-Step +00:00:00
4. Sacha Modolo (ITA) Lampre – Merida +00:00:20
5. Nikias Arndt (GER) Team Giant-Alpecin +00:00:30
6. Ivan Rovny (RUS) Tinkoff Team +00:00:34
13. Pavel Brutt (RUS) Tinkoff +00:05:07
17. Jay McCarthy (AUS) Tinkoff +00:05:40
26. Rafal Majka (POL) Tinkoff +00:13:24
50. Manuele Boaro (ITA) Tinkoff +00:15:51
52. Pawel Poljanski (POL) Tinkoff +00:15:51
86. Matteo Tosatto (ITA) Tinkoff +00:23:22
103. Jesus Hernandez (SPA) Tinkoff +00:23:22
120. Evgeny Petrov (RUS) Tinkoff +00:23:22
GC After Stage 18
1. Steven Kruijswijk (NED) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 73:50:37
2. Esteban Chaves (COL) Orica-GreenEdge +00:03:00
3. Alejandro Valverde (SPA) Movistar Team +00:03:23
4. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA) Astana Pro Team +00:04:43
5. Ilnur Zakarin (RUS) Team Katusha +00:04:50
6. Rafal Majka (POL) Tinkoff +00:05:34
33. Ivan Rovny (RUS) Tinkoff +01:06:51
40. Pawel Poljanski (POL) Tinkoff +01:23:50
41. Manuele Boaro (ITA) Tinkoff +01:28:22
54. Jesus Hernandez (SPA) Tinkoff +01:56:23
78. Evgeny Petrov (RUS) Tinkoff +02:32:11
83. Pavel Brutt (RUS) Tinkoff +02:36:31
86. Jay McCarthy (AUS) Tinkoff +02:37:58
101. Matteo Tosatto (ITA) Tinkoff +02:48:27
