Following two successive mountain stages which saw Tadej Pogačar deny the breakaway a famous victory, it was Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost) who took the glory on stage 17 of the Giro d'Italia at another summit finish, the Passo Brocon.
The German, riding his debut Grand Tour and having placed third on stage 15, was part of the day's early breakaway, a move caught on the Passo Gobbera 61km from the finish, before striking out again a few kilometres later and then leaving breakmate Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Lidl-Trek) behind 34km from the finish, midway up the first ascent of the Brocon.
Having started the final climb with 45 seconds in hand over Ghebreigzabhier – and 2:35 on the peloton – Steinhauser crossed the line solo to take his first-ever professional victory at 1:24 ahead of 'the new cannibal' Pogačar. The maglia rosa took second place after attacking the select GC group 2km from the summit.
Rounding out the stage podium was the white jersey of Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious), who led home Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers), Dani Martínez (Bora-Hansgrohe), Einer Rubio (Movistar), and Romain Bardet (DSM-Firmenich PostNL) to take third place at 1:42 back.
“I don’t know, it’s something unbelievable,” Steinhauser said of his win. “Already on stage 8, I noticed I have good legs. I thought maybe I have the legs to win a stage.
“The queen stage was an unbelievable day. I could already be happy just with the queen stage of this Giro. Today already when I rolled to the sign-on I thought to myself ‘Fuck, I have good legs, maybe I will win today.’
“And then I went from the beginning in the break. It was a little bit strange because we got caught by the peloton again, but I had one moment I decided, I have to try again. And I did and it worked out.
“I heard [about Pogačar’s attack] on the radio and I was super nervous on the last climb, but I knew I had to push all the way to the finish. I heard at one point that he’s attacking but I was already at 2km to go so I thought I will make it.”
There were few major changes in the GC standings following the third summit finish in a row, and the final true summit finish of the Giro. Pogačar, having gained a total of 18 seconds on Tiberi and co at the finish, now leads Martínez by 7:42, while Thomas remains 22 seconds down on the Colombian at 8:04.
Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), having been dropped 2.8km from the finish, came home in 12th at 2:23 down, and now lies 9:47 behind Pogačar. He’ll have cause for concern for the remaining mountain stages – stage 19 to Sappada and stage 20 over Monte Grappa – as he now holds a slimmed 42-second lead over Tiberi.
How it unfolded
After the chaos and awful weather that saw Tuesday’s stage 16 shortened and delayed, stage 17 saw the Giro d’Italia back on track with a trip through the Dolomites for 159km and five major climbs on the road from Selva di Val Gardena to another summit finish at the Passo Brocon.
The new Cima Coppi – the highest point of the race – would be the first test of the day, with the 2,244-metre Passo Sella taking over the mantle following the earlier excisions of the Passo dello Stelvio (2,758m) and, on Tuesday, the Umbrail Pass (2,498m).
As a result, the battle for the breakaway began as soon as the flag dropped to start the stage, as VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè pair Filippo Fiorelli and Martin Marcellusi took off on the 8.9km, 7.4% Passo Sella.
Counter-moves came from maglia Azzurra hopefuls Simon Geschke (Cofidis) and Cristian Scaroni (Astana Qazaqstan) as sprinters quickly dropped from the rear of the peloton, though a real move wouldn’t be established before the upper slopes of the mountain.
With attacks from the 20-year-old debutant Giulio Pellizzari (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè), stage 12 winner Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-QuickStep), 2014 champion Nairo Quintana (Movistar), and Amanuel Ghebriegzabhier (Lidl-Trek), the move was formed just in time to fight over the Cima Coppi prize.
It was Pellizzari who took it – and 50 mountain points to boot – as he outsprinted Quintana in a photo finish over the top, while the quartet were joined by a host of other riders on the 38km descent towards Predazzo and the first intermediate sprint of the stage.
On the long road down, Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost) and Attila Valter (Visma-Lease A Bike) joined the move, as did a quartet of Italians – Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech), Nicola Conci (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious), and Davide Ballerini (Astana Qazaqstan).
DSM-Firmenich PostNL took to the head of the peloton to make the pace behind and control the gap to the breakaway. The Dutch squad limited the move’s advantage to under two minutes, perhaps keen to set something up for team leader Romain Bardet later in the day.
The Passo Rolle (19.8km at 4.8%) would pose the next challenge of the stage, with Pellizzari once again leading over the top to add another 40 points to his collection and move into second place in the competition, 90 down on Pogačar’s 206.
90km remained of the day, and another long descent – 27km – lay ahead of the riders before the next test of the third category Passo Gobbera. A further nine mountain points would be on offer for first across the peak, though the breakaway wouldn’t be off the front to take them.
Instead, DSM-Firmenich PostNL had decided, bizarrely, to bring an end to the break, pulling hard on the Gobbera to bring the 10 leaders back with 61km left to race. Then, nearing the top of the climb, the team knocked off the pace entirely, having seemingly gained nothing from their tactical plot.
UAE Team Emirates super-domestique was the only person bewildered by the move, though the Polish climber was caught on camera gesturing in bemusement at DSM rider Kevin Vermaerke as the team melted off the front.
In response, Ghebreigzabhier countered, keen to get back off up the road. The Eritrean led the way over the top and was joined once again by Steinhauser on the way down the other side.
By the time the new two-man break hit the Intergiro sprint at Canal San Bovo, 47km from the finish, they enjoyed a 40-second lead over the peloton, which consisted at that point of around 25 riders.
Two ascents of the Passo Brocon
The leading duo would push their advantage to 1:30 on the way up the second-category climb of the Passo Brocon (13.3km at 6.5%), which was back on the Giro route for the first time since 1967.
Behind them, DSM hit the front once more, their job apparently not done, as they quickly re-caught another man from the early break who briefly tried another move in Frigo. They closed things up to move within a minute of the lead before stopping again and then retaking the front 5km from the top as the gap grew out to 1:30.
Bahrain Victorious were the next team on the front, taking up the pacemaking 33km out and a kilometre from the top, by which point Steinhauser had spent a kilometre out front alone after dropping Ghebreigzabhier.
He led over the top, 30 seconds up on his former companion and two minutes up on the peloton. Frigo, yet again, and blue jersey holder Scaroni lay just ahead of the main group, having jumped away near the top.
Steinhauser, in the midst of his Grand Tour debut and having placed third from the break in Livigno two days ago, put himself in a great position to succeed once he hit Pieve Tescino in the valley before the final ascent from the other side of the Passo Brocon (11.8km at 6.6%), leading Ghebreigzabhier by 45 seconds and the peloton by 2:35.
Ineos Grenadiers massed on the front of the peloton to start the climb, with their steady pacemaking seeing Steinhauser’s advantage quickly grow out past the three-minute mark.
Frigo, 5km from the finish, and then Ghebreigzabhier, a kilometre later, were brought back into the fold as Ineos worked through their men until only Thymen Arensman remained with Geraint Thomas in his wheel.
Up ahead, Steinhauser continued with three minutes in hand and the shallower gradients of the final 2km lying in wait. The 22-year-old reached that mark with a two-minute lead, while behind him Dani Martínez had just kicked off the GC hostilities.
Pogačar and Thomas were on the case as the group slimmed down to just six men including Tiberi, Rubio, and Bardet. O’Connor, meanwhile, was battling to hang on to his fourth place overall having been dropped just inside the 3km mark.
Despite Pogačar’s stinging acceleration, he didn’t go all-out to finish the stage, not that the gradients of the final were conducive to gaining huge amounts of time. As a result, Steinhauser had 1:40 heading under the flamme rouge, his win in the bag.
At the line, the Slovenian had 18 seconds on the rest of the GC men, another small time gain – plus a six-second time bonus – in the bag. Behind him, it was Tiberi who took up the mantle to lead home the chase group, the Italian keen to extend his white jersey advantage over Arensman and close in on O’Connor’s fourth spot.
He, having gained a total of 17 seconds on Arensman, plus 45 seconds on O’Connor, could celebrate a job well done, along with Pogačar once again, and, of course, the man of the day, Steinhauser.
Results
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