Fernando Gaviria continued his fantastic Giro d’Italia debut on Thursday afternoon, when he roared first over the finish line in Reggio Emilia, after tremendous work by Maximiliano Richeze. The Argentinian provided a perfect lead-out despite a flat tire in the last 15 kilometres which forced him to chase hard back to the frantic peloton who was heading to the finish with 55 kilometres per hour.
Quick-Step Floors’ Gaviria who is the first rider in six years to score three stage victories at his maiden Grand Tour came off his teammate’s wheel with 150 metres to go and powered to the line, beating Jakub Mareczko (Wilier-Triestina) and Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe). The win helped the Colombian extend his already comfortable advantage to 80 points in the maglia ciclamino classification, which he leads since last week.
“I was a bit worried when Max punctured, because the finish was nearing and the bunch was going really fast. Fortunately, he came back and I was relieved, because Max is very important for me. I want to say a big thanks to him and to the entire team, they were wonderful today and I couldn’t have asked for more”, said Gaviria in Reggio Emilia, which returned to the Corsa Rosa after 16 years.
“I would have never imagined such a run on my Grand Tour debut. I was hoping to get a stage win, but to have three so far is beyond any expectations. It’s been a tough race so far, but I feel good and that’s important. I already said it and will repeat it, I want to go all the way to Milan, not only to win the maglia ciclamino, but also to repay Bob as much as I can for his help in these two weeks”, concluded Gaviria after Quick-Step Floors’ 28th victory of the season.
