Yesterday saw the first real mountain stage of the Giro d’Italia with the riders finishing at the Osservatorio Astrofisico climb on Mount Etna in Sicily. Simon Yates (Michelton-Scott) took over the race lead as Team Bahrain-Merida leader Domenico Pozzovivo climbed up to fourth overall.
Esteban Chaves (Michelton-Scott) was in the break from early on in the 169-kilometre stage from Caltanissetta and was the last remaining escapee of the day. He was joined on the final 15-kilometre climb from Regalna, with gradients up to 16%, by his team mate Yates. The two stayed clear with Chaves taking the stage win and Yates taking over the maglia rosa.
Pozzovivo finished in fifth, 26″ down in small group of chasers led home by Thibaut Pinot (Groupama – FDJ) with many of the GC favourites finishing in the same time, including Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana Pro Team), Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb), Fabio Aru (UAE-Team Emirates) and Chris Froome (Team Sky).
Domenico Pozzovivo said shortly after the race: “It was a very difficult day. I thought that many of the other teams played good tactics today and that made it really tough. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to maintain this good form throughout the rest of the Giro d’Italia. I also think that we are all a bit worn out from these Sicilian stages that featured up and down courses. Many of us were not brilliant today. We climbed quite fast, but without making the difference.”
Meanwhile his team mate Giovanni Visconti crashed with one of the team cars: “I had a bad day and crashed at high speed, but I’m just lucky that by hitting a car I didn’t get worse injuries . Domenico did well, so all in all, the day was good for us.”
