Bouhanni wins stage 10 of the Giro d'Italia

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Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ.fr) avoided a huge crash in the final kilometre to take his third Giro d’Italia stage victory in Salsomaggiore. The Frenchman jumped off the wheel of Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek Factory Racing) to beat the Italian and Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEdge). Cadel Evans (BMC) retained his lead in the race for the maglia rosa.

The bunch had been reduced to around 10 riders, when Tyler Farrar came down on one of the many corners that littered the technical finish. The Garmin-Sharp rider appeared to go into the corner too quickly, before veering across the road. It then became a three-way sprint, with Nizzolo taking up the lead. Bouhanni stuck himself into the slipstream of the Trek rider, before jumping with around 75 meters to go.

“In the end it was really quick but my team did it perfectly. They were all ready to help me and we had a very good approach to the sprint. I did my bit for by teammates,” Bouhanni said.

Bouhanni lost touch with the front of the peloton as Sky set a fierce pace on the descent into Salsomaggiore. His FDJ teammate Sebastien Chavanel put in a huge effort to bring his leader back inside the final two kilometres. It was all set up for a huge bunch sprint, before Farrar came down.

Race leader Cadel Evans (BMC) also came through unscathed to retain the pink jersey, although most of his rivals got caught behind the crash. However, with the incident coming inside the final three kilometres, no time was lost by anyone.

“As expected after a rest day, everyone is fresh and recovered both physically and mentally. It often makes a more dangerous finish,” Evans said at the finish.

It wasn’t all good news for Evans, however, who lost his first teammate. Yannick Eijssen was involved in a late crash with Ivan Rovny (Tinkoff-Saxo), which resulted in the Belgian being taken to hospital. His departure is a blow for Evans and the BMC team. “He [Yannick Eijssen] is a young rider in his first year at a Grand Tour and made a lot of progress to be here. We miss him here, but also for his year and his progression. It’s unfortunate for him and well miss him,” said Evans.

How it happened

There was a sad note to the day, with the 13 remaining Colombian riders donning a white flower on their jerseys to commemorate the death of 31 school children who died in a bus fire.

After a rest day spent in Modena, the peloton began the 10th stage there. The 173-kilometre route would take the riders northwest to Salsomaggiore Terme. With only the smallest of climbs towards the finish, it was another chance for the sprinters to claim glory.

Cadel Evans (BMC) led the peloton out of Modena in the pink jersey, but once the flag dropped it was two different men who headed up proceedings. Marco Bandiera (Androni Giocattoli) and Andrea Fedi (Neri Sottoli) were once again in the main break of the day. Both riders have been regular features in the escapes throughout the race so far. The duo managed to build a lead of 8:35 before the peloton called a halt to their progression.

Bandiera took full points in the intermediate sprint with Fedi in second, leaving three points up for grabs in the peloton. Nacer Bouhanni began the day with only a 16-point advantage in the red jersey competition. Cannondale delivered Elia Viviani perfectly to the line, with Bouhanni not even getting a look-in.

BMC and Omega Pharma-QuickStep took up the pace setting, as the peloton rode a relatively calm tempo. With only two men out front, they were in no rush to chase them down. However, their day was doomed from the start, with too many teams interested in the bunch gallop at the finish. As the teams began fighting for control at the front of the peloton, with 20 kilometres to go, the advantage of Bandiera and Fedi began to tumble.

The jostling took its toll, with Rovny and Eijssen colliding in the middle of the peloton. While Rovny was quick to get back on his bike, Eijssen stayed down. The Belgian left the race in an ambulance, sporting a neck brace. He is the first BMC rider to abandon the 2014 Giro d’Italia.

After almost the entire day out front, Bandiera and Fedi shook hands on a day well done and were finally caught with nine kilometres remaining. Team Sky, who had been fairly anonymous, began drilling it on the front as they tackled the only climb of the day. The pace set by Dario Cataldo split the peloton briefly and shed the tired legs off the back and strung the peloton out in one long line.

Sky continued to wind the pace up on the descent in the form of Edvald Boasson Hagen, getting rid of the red jersey holder Nacer Bouhanni in the process. The Frenchman had to chase hard to get back in touch with just under two kilometres left to run. The efforts to get him there left him with only one teammate to guide him through the technical finish.

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