Giro d'Italia: Demare wins stage 10

Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ) claimed his first victory of 2019 on stage 10 of the Giro d’Italia, beating Elia Viviani (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Rudiger Selig (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) to the line in Modena after double stage winner Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) was taken out by a late crash.

The Frenchman, who finished second in Orbetello on stage 3 and third in Terracina on stage 5, claimed the first Giro stage win of his career with a powerful sprint from a front group of 12 that emerged when maglia ciclamino Ackermann touched wheels and crashed heavily under the one-kilometre to go banner.

FDJ’s lead-out man Jacopo Guarnieri led out the sprint alongside Jasper De Buyst for Lotto Soudal, and Demare chose to go early on the far left while Ewan waited a couple more seconds before going on the right. Viviani chose Ewan’s wheel and managed to pass him down the middle but was unable to overhaul Demare, while Ewan sat up in the last few metres and was pipped for the final podium spot by Selig, who was sprinting for Bora in the absence of Ackermann.

“We came to the Giro for this. I really wanted a stage win and I got it,” Demare said. “I avoided the crash because we, as a team, were very well positioned. I’m super happy.”

Ackermann, winner on stages 1 and 5, crossed the line with skinsuit shredded and road rash all down his left side. He gingerly stepped onto the podium to collect the maglia ciclamino, but his lead in the points classification has been reduced to one point by Demare, who also hit out at the first of two intermediate sprints. The crash also took out Jakub Mareczko (CCC Team), whose teammate Fran Ventoso had tried to spring a surprise with a flyer in the closing kilometres, while Trek-Segafredo’s young sprinter Matteo Moschetti looked considerably worse off as he lay stricken on the home straight.

Given the crash occurred inside the final three kilometres, there were no time gaps given in the peloton and Valerio Conti (UAE Team Emirates) retained his overall lead, with Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) still in second and the best-placed of the pre-race favourites.

How it unfolded

After the first rest day on Monday, stage 10 continued the theme of the first week of the Giro d’Italia, with barely as much as a speedbump on the 145-kilometre route from Ravenna to Modena.

A two-man breakaway featuring Luca Covili (Bardiani-CSF) and Sho Hatsuyama (Nippo-Vini Fantini) went clear immediately after the flag dropped, and the peloton settled in for what was as close to an active rest day as they’re likely to get. The average speed – just over 38km/h and some way behind the slowest predicted time schedule – gave an indication of the relaxed mood in the peloton. Ackermann at one point jokingly signaled for rotation in a small group that had clipped away to contest the first intermediate sprint. It was that kind of day.

The two breakaway riders, both Giro debutants, carved out a lead of three minutes after an hour of racing but were controlled largely by Demare’s teammate Miles Scotson in the early portion of the race. Deceuninck-QuickStep were also prominent with Pieter Serry.

The first intermediate sprint came with 46 kilometres to go, and although there was no contest from the breakaway duo – Covili rolling through first – Demare struck out from the peloton ahead of Ackermann to begin to close the gap in the points classification. The second intermediate sprint came soon after and saw roles reversed in the break, while Damiano Cima (Nippo-Vini Fantini) clipped off the front of the bunch before being joined and pipped by Roger Kluge (Lotto Soudal).

By that point, the gap to the break was down at 30 seconds after an increase in pace, and the race came back together with 29km to go. The teams started to position themselves in the peloton at that point, but it was only at the 10km-to-go banner that the urgency increased. Vincenzo Nibali’s Bahrain-Merida and Simon Yates’ Mitchelton-Scott were prominent as the GC teams rubbed shoulders with the sprinters’ teams.

Ventoso hit the front and moved clear almost by stealth with 2.6km to go, and the Spaniard went all-in to continue his effort. He increased his lead through a sharp left-hand bend but the gap closed quickly as the flamme rouge approached. He’d just been caught when Selig had to touch the brakes, sending Ackermann into his rear wheel and the onto the tarmac.

That split the bunch wide open, but Demare came through the chaos unscathed to make it three straight Grand Tours in which he has registered a win. The misery continues, however, for Elia Viviani, who has just one more opportunity to get something from this Giro on Wednesday’s stage 11 before he’s expected to head home and switch his focus to the Tour de France.

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