Kaden Groves second, Olav Kooij third in reduced sprint into Nova Gorica
EF Education - EasyPost's Danish rider Kasper Asgreen celebrates after victory as he crosses the finish of the 14th stage of the 108th Giro d'Italia(Image credit: Getty Images)
As the race visited the Italy-Slovenia cross-border city of Gorizia-Nova Gorica, what was expected to be a straightforward sprint stage was turned on its head by a multi-rider crash in the peloton 23km from the line.
GC contenders Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers), Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious), and Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) were all caught out in the fall, shedding major time at the end of the 195km stage.
Out front, Asgreen took advantage of the split in the peloton and resulting chaos to go solo 6.5km from the line.
He left behind breakaway survivors Mirco Maestri (Polti-VisitMalta) and Martin Marcellusi (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè) to solo home and win the stage by 16 seconds as Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease A Bike) led a 16-rider peloton across the line.
Maglia rosa Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) was safe among the lead group, as were other major GC names Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), Simon Yates (Visma-Lease A Bike), Tom Pidcock (Q36.5), Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious), and Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech).
The next group on the road, at 1:04 down on Asgreen and those losing 48 seconds to Del Toro et al, were Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), the Ineos Grenadiers duo of Egan Bernal and Thymen Arensman, and Michael Storer (Tudor).
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It was an even worse day for Italy’s top GC hopefuls. Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) came home two minutes down to lose 1:44 to the lead group, while Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) lost minutes after resuming from the crash over six minutes down.
The new GC picture sees Del Toro holding pink by an extended 1:20 from Simon Yates, while Ayuso lies third at 1:26. Roglič remains fifth, now at 2:23 down rather than 1:35, while Tiberi drops five places to eighth at 3:02.
Isaac Del Toro reacts at the finish line of stage 14 as many GC riders were caught in and behind a late-race crash (Image credit: Getty Images)
How it unfolded
With the mountainous final week of the Giro d’Italia looming, only a handful of chances remained for the sprinters of the peloton, with stage 14's trip to the Slovenian border providing another opportunity.
The largely flat stage, featuring just under 1,000 metres of climbing, headed 195km east from Treviso to the cross-border city of Nova Gorica-Gorizia. Just three fourth-category climbs lay in wait for the peloton, with Goniace (3.5km at 4.9%) and two ascents of Saver (700m at 7.7%) coming in the final 40km of the stage.
The break of the day took some time to go clear as attacks flew from the start. The first 20km of the stage saw a strong group jump away, including Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease A Bike), Quinten Hermans (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Kasper Asgreen (EF Education-EasyPost), Taco van der Hoorn (Intermarché-Wanty), Josef Cerny (Soudal-QuickStep), and Dries De Bondt (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale).
The breakaway on stage 14 (Image credit: Getty Images)
That breakaway attempt wouldn’t succeed, however, but Asgreen continued to push alone at the front. He drew a sole chaser in Mirco Maestri (Polti-VisitMalta), before Clément Davy (Groupama-FDJ), Louis Meintjes (Intermarché-Wanty), and Martin Marcellusi (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè) also came across.
Attacks continued behind, but as Visma-Lease a Bike and Alpecin-Deceuninck set about taking control of the peloton with 160km to go, that quintet was set as the break of the day. They’d take 90 seconds on the main group, but Meintjes only lasted 10km with the leaders before dropping back.
On the pan-flat run to the border, rain showers came and went and then came back again, though little else of note occurred as the riders raced eastwards. Maestri led over the first intermediate sprint at Morsano al Tagliamento before Marcellusi beat him to the line at Talmassons, 94km from the finish.
Both sprints saw De Bondt jump out of the peloton to sprint against maglia ciclamino Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), an odd matchup given the Belgian lay seventh in the standings, 178 points down on the Dane. He took the singular point on offer on each occasion, in any case.
At the next sprint, the Red Bull Kilometre at 62km to go, the break race on with an 80-second lead while Maestri led the way once again as Visma-Lease a Bike and Alpecin-Deceuninck continued at the head of the peloton.
A general view of the peloton competing while fans cheer along the Slovenian border (Image credit: Getty Images)
Throngs of Slovenian fans, out in force to support their hero Roglič, greeted the Giro at the border, where the riders finally hit the first climb of the day at Gonlace, 42km from the line.
The break soon became a trio on the way up as Davy dropped off the back. Asgreen led them over the top while back in the peloton, Ineos Grenadiers accelerated to the front, bringing the gap down to a minute.
On the city circuit, a tightening bend at 23km to go brought the first major drama of the day as the squeeze in the peloton brought on a multi-rider crash and a split in the group. Lidl-Trek GC leader Giulio Ciccone went down hard and took some time to get going again, resuming six minutes off the lead.
The split also saw a swathe of other GC riders – including Roglič, Ayuso, Bernal, and Tiberi – on the back foot, forced to chase a lead peloton which included race leader Del plus Carapaz, Simon Yates, and Gee.
Out front, the break was hanging on to a 25-second lead heading into the final 10km. Roglič, Ayuso, Bernal and his teammate Arensman lay 1:10 down, while Tiberi and several teammates chased from a two-minute deficit.
Lidl-Trek support Giulio Ciccone to the finish line after the late-race crash (Image credit: Getty Images)
Despite the best efforts of Visma-Lease a Bike chasing the break for their sprinter Kooij, it would be the break which fought for the victory – or one of their number, at least. Asgreen, the sole WorldTour representative in the move, went for it on the day’s final climb with 6.5km to go.
He held onto an ever-tightening gap during the closing kilometres. However, it was an advantage which hovered around the 10 to 15-second mark rather than melting into single figures.
The Dane, a winner from the break at the Tour de France two years ago, held on to hold off the select chase group and record the 14th victory of his career, EF’s second in four days at the Giro.
16 seconds later, the fastmen Groves, Kooij, and Orluis Aular (Movistar) led home the chase, while, further back, a swathe of major Giro contenders were left counting their losses.
Stage winner Kasper Asgreen celebrates winning stage 14 with his teammates (Image credit: Getty Images)
Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor, later being hired full-time. Her favourite races include Strade Bianche, the Tour de France Femmes, Paris-Roubaix, and Tro-Bro Léon.
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