Andre Greipel took his second stage victory at this year’s Giro d’Italia and gave Lotto Soudal a third consecutive victory with another well-timed sprint victory.
The German ‘Gorilla’ seemed to have lost his place at the front in the hectic twisting finish but flexed his muscles and used his speed to somehow emerge as Caleb Ewan (Orica-GreenEdge) launched is sprint. Greipel followed Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida) out of the traffic and then kicked to the line. Greipel has now won stages in the last 10 Grand Tours he has ridden. It was a masterful display of sprinting, especially because it was far more than just a surge to the finish.
Six Italian sprinters finished in the top ten but again missed out on victory. Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek Segafredo) was second and Modolo was third and could only bow their heads in defeat yet again. Ewan managed to hang on for fourth but must have known he failed to finish off a fantastic opportunity to win.
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Marcel Kittel (Etixx-QuickStep) had fought to survive over the climbs but was taken out of the sprint due to a puncture just five kilometres from the line.
Greipel took time to look for his Lotto Soudal teammates after the finish and celebrated with them. They played a key role in his victory both during the stage chasing the break and in the lead out. Greipel also took the red points jersey, while Tim Wellens took the blue climber’s jersey.
“It was a hard day, a really hard day,” Greipel explained. “There was a strong break upfront but my team did an amazing job again. They killed themselves to bring the race back together.”
Day off for Dumoulin
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How it happened
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