Member of the breakaway of the day, the Dane Magnus Cort Nielsen won the first victory of his career on the Giro, at the end of a stage marked by rain, falls and retirements. Geraint Thomas, who inherited first place following Remco Evenepoel’s positive covid test, remains in pink.
For their return to the bike after a day of rest, the Giro riders were served! The rain did not stop falling during this 10th stage between Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany, and between the weather conditions and the covid, no less than twelve of them gave up taking the start or retired during this Tuesday day. Among them, the 6th of general Aleksandr Vlasov, and Remco Evenepoel, of course, who left his pink jersey to Geraint Thomas. The Briton was able to avoid falls and therefore remains in the lead at the end of this stage (which some riders wanted it to be shortened, in vain) won by Magnus Cort Nielsen.
Bais takes the points then gets back up
If Mattia Cattaneo (Soudal-Quick Step), Louis Vervaeke (Soudal-Quick Step), Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech), Alessandro De Marchi (Jayco-AlUla) and Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Trek-Segafredo) were the first riders to escape, it is finally a group of four who formed for the longest climb of this Giro, the Passo delle Radici and its 33.7km at 2% average, with a peak at 10%. Magnus Cort Nielsen (EF Education EasyPost) and Davide Bais (EOLO-Kometa) joined Gee and De Marchi at the head of the race. Bais took the lead at the top, allowing him to increase his lead over Thibaut Pinot (arrived with the main peloton despite being frightened at the end of the stage after being caught in a break following a fall) in the classification of the best climber, then he got up, leaving his three friends to do battle.
Cort Nielsen stronger than De Marchi
The peloton, which first thought of avoiding falls (which did not prevent Fernando Gaviria, Warren Barguil, Jay Vine or Alberto Bettiol from going to the ground) played cat and mouse for a long time with the trio lead, who finally understood three kilometers from the end that victory would be at stake. De Marchi was the first to launch the offensive, but Cort Nielsen countered him without any problem to go and win, at 30, the 26th victory of his career. The mustachioed Dane also becomes the 105th rider to win at least one stage in the three Grand Tours, after his two successes in the Tour de France (2018 and 2022) and his six in the Vuelta (in 2016, 2020 and 2021). He confided on arrival that he had experienced one of the most difficult stages of his career. On Wednesday, 219 kilometers will be on the program with two third category passes and a fourth category pass. But more than the relief, there is no doubt that the runners will first look at the weather forecast…
WORLD TOUR / GIRO (ITALIE)
Classement of the 10th stage (Scandiano – Viareggio, 196km) – Tuesday 16 May 2023
1- Magnus Cort Nielsen (DAN/EF Education EasyPost) a 4h51’16
2- Derek Gee (CAN/Israel-Premier Tech) mt
3- Alessandro De Marchi (ITA/Jayco-AlUla) at 2″
4- Mads Pedersen (DAN/Trek-Segafredo) at 51″
5- Pascal Ackermann (ALL/UAE Emirates) à 51″
6- Stefano Oldani (ITA/Alpecin-Deceuninck) at 51″
7- Jonathan Milan (ITA / Bahrain-Victorious) at 51″
8- Mark Cavendish (GBR/Astana Qazakstan) at 51″
9- Mirco Maestri (ITA/EOLO-Kometa) at 51″
10- Filippo Fiorelli (ITA/Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizane) at 51″
…
29- Aurélien Paret-Peintre (FRA/AG2R-Citroën) at 51″
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General classification (after 10 out of 21 stages)
1- Geraint Thomas (GBR/Ineos Grenadiers) en 39h26’33
2- Primoz Roglic (SLO/Jumbo-Visma) at 2″
3- Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBR / Ineos Grenadiers) at 5″
4- Joao Almeida (POR/UAE Emirates) at 22″
5- Andreas Leknessund (NOR/DSM) à 35″
6- Damiano Caruso (ITA/Bahrain Victorious) at 1’28
7- Lennard Kämna (GER / Bora-Hansgrohe) at 1’52
8- Pavel Sivakov (FRA / Ineos Grenadiers) at 2’15
9- Eddie Dunbar (IRL/Jayco AlUla) at 2’32
10- Thymen Arensman (PBS/Ineos Grenadiers) à 2’32
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