The Trek-Segafredo has a good time in this Giro d’Italia. Jokes, smiles and a good atmosphere in the Piazza Plebiscito in Naples, where Juanpe López sank his teeth into a slice of pizza while his colleagues burst out laughing. That yes, then they had to sweat a lot to keep the pink jersey for one more day in a stage in which, for the third time so far in Corsa Rosa, a breakaway triumphed. And as has been the tradition for years, it was the Belgian Thomas De Gendt who scored the victory by surprising men like Girmay or Van der Poel. To be praised was the great work of Jorge Arcas, who was about to break the Spanish drought in the race after being third in the reduced final sprint.
After several calm days, today Van der Poel felt like rock’n’roll The Dutchman attacked in the early stages of the stage and left alone with 145 km to go. ‘MVP’ at its best. It was not easy to follow his wheel, but together with him a breakaway of 21 riders ended up forming, with Lilian Calmejane, Wout Poels, Jasha Sutterlin, Guillaume Martin, Biniam Girmay, Thomas De Gendt, Mauro Schmid, Diego Ulissi and Jorge Arcas (the only Spanish representative) among the highlights, which rolled at an average of 47 km/h in the first hour of the race. They saw them at the finish line…
Of all of them, only Frenchman Martin, the peloton’s philosopher, could worry Juanpe López about the fight for the pink jersey (at 4:06 overall), but the peloton stabilized the gap below four minutes. Arrived at the circuit in the vicinity of Naples, where four laps had to be completed, the successive slopes quickly claimed victims, such as the case of a Mark Cavendish dropped 62 km from the end. Shortly after, 46 minutes from the finish, Van der Poel wanted to raise the stakes with an attack of his own, of pure power, without looking back. The leading group broke up, but after regrouping, the smartest were Gabburo, Vanhoucke, De Gendt and Arcas, with a counterattack that left them ready to play for victory.
The Arcas telephone company made us dream of a Spanish success that has been resisting in the Corsa Rosa since 2019 with Pello Bilbao, but it was not possible. The leading quartet managed their lead over a chasing duo formed by Van der Poel and Girmay, who at times recalled the spectacular comeback that the Dutchman starred in the Amstel Gold Race. Thanks to the sacrifice of Vanhoucke, De Gendt arrived a little fresher in the last meters and imposed the top speed of him to raise his arms. From behind, saving the furniture, the figure of the pink jersey emerged, who in one of the last slopes suffocated in first person a surprise attack from Kämna. The Trek and Juanpe will arrive smiling at this Sunday’s stage with a finish at Blockhaus. Let them take away the dance…