On yesterday’s longest stage of this year’s Giro d’Italia from Penne to Gualdo Tadino, Matej Mohorič (Team Bahrain Merida) outsprinted Nico Denz (Ag2r La Mondiale) after 244 kilometres to take the win.

Mohorič was in the break that went clear just after the start, and when the peloton caught them, he supported his captain Domenico Pozzovivo before trying again and going for the stage win.

On the climb to Annifo, Mohoric went clear with Davide Vilella (Astana) in pursuit of leader Marco Frapporti (Androni Giocattoli). They caught and dropped him towards the summit. On the descent, Mohoric was joined by Nico Denz (AG2R La Mondiale) as Vilella was dropped.

The duo stayed clear until the finish with Mohoric outsprinting Denz for his second Grand Tour stage win after a victory in last year’s Vuelta.

“It’s such a special day” said the Slovenian rider afterwards. “It was a very long and tough stage. I marked in red it when I saw the route of this year’s Giro. We planned to go in the break of the day and I tried at the start with a group of seventeen riders, but then when the peloton saw that Esteban Chaves dropped, they began the chase full gas.

“In the final I still felt great and I asked to Pozzovivo the permission to go. It was quite hard and I was not so confident to be able to win, but I’m tried my best in the final sprint. I did it and I’m super happy for me and for Team Bahrain Merida. A stage win was one of the aim here at the Giro, together with the General Classification. Now I will focus on helping our leader Domenico in the next days”.

Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) maintained the pink jersey but his team mate Esteban Chaves slipped out of contention as he finished over 25 minutes down..

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