Ben O’Connor has won the seventeenth stage in the Giro d’Italia one day after his second place in the sixteenth stage. The 24-year-old Australian from NTT Pro Cycling was part of the early breakaway and hit the final climb. Classification leader João Almeida had undoubtedly expected a tough day, but was only tested in the final phase. The Portuguese thus retained the pink.
As expected, it was a big fight for the flight of the day in the seventeenth stage. For kilometers the peloton rode on a ribbon and there were many attacks. However, it was only after forty kilometers of buffeting that nineteen riders came together. On the first climb of the day – the Forcella Valbona of 21.4 kilometers – they broke away from the peloton for a few minutes, where Deceuninck-Quick-Step kept the pace for leader João Almeida.
Guerreiro virtually in the mountain jersey, Almeida not yet under pressure
Geoffrey Bouchard (AG2R), Jesper Hansen (Cofidis), Óscar Rodríguez (Astana), Hermann Pernsteiner (Bahrain), Ilnur Zakarin, Víctor de la Parte (both CCC), Ruben Guerreiro (EF), Kilian Frankiny (Groupama), Thomas De Gendt, Harm Vanhoucke (both Lotto Soudal), Héctor Carretero, Edoardo Sepúlveda, Dario Cataldo, Davide Villella (all Movistar), Louis Meintjes, Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier, Ben O’Connor (all NTT), Rohan Dennis (INEOS) and Diego Ulissi ( UAE) had a good five minutes lead at the top of the first climb.
Guerreiro took the forty mountain points and thus became the virtual leader in the mountain classification. The man in blue, Giovanni Visconti, had missed the battle for the leading group … With the newspapers under the shirt the descent was long before the second climb of the day was programmed. The 20.5 kilometer Monte Bondone was almost as long as the first climb and at 6.6 percent on average also almost as steep. Would there already be a team here in the peloton that wanted to increase the pace? Deceuninck-Quick-Step let the gap to the leading group grow to more than six minutes.
Classification men wait, leading group thins out
After a long descent, our eyes turned to the second climb of the day. The Monte Bondone climbed 20.5 kilometers at 6.6 percent and there was no team that took control of the peloton. Iljo Keisse led the pace for his leader Almeida and the leading group also cycled up at an appropriate pace. After more than twenty kilometers of scrambling, the situation in the race had therefore not changed: the leading group came up with a good seven minutes lead, Guerreiro again took forty mountain points and Deceuninck-Quick-Step led the peloton up.
After the second climb, Movistar played its first trump card, with four riders in the leading group. Cataldo accelerated in the descent and hit a gap of more than fifty seconds in the descending kilometers. The eighteen other early escapees fell together, but that group broke up afterwards. Dennis and Zakarin attacked and got Ghebreigzabhier, O’Connor, Vanhoucke and Carretero. These six drove to Cataldo in the hilly kilometers towards the third climb. Pernsteiner and De Gendt also joined the climb, with which we had a leading group of nine. Villella finished tenth just below the top.
Pernsteiner virtually in top 3, favorites take day off
The ten leaders were given all the space of the peloton, which gave in for more than eight minutes. That was considerable, because with Pernsteiner someone, less than ten minutes from Almeida in the standings, was in the lead. The Austrian started the last 35 kilometers, knowing that he would virtually enter the top 3 of the classification. Only after the descent of the third climb of the day did the peloton start somewhat and the lead of the leading group decreased somewhat.
That leading group will gain weight towards the foot of the twelve kilometer long final climb. Bouchard, De la Parte, Rodríguez, Frankiny and Hansen returned, leaving us with fifteen leaders. At the start of the last twenty kilometers they still had a good six minutes ahead. De Gendt did most of the front work on the way to the Madonna di Campiglio, from 11.9 kilometers at 5.9 percent on average. Here it had to happen, in front and with the favorites …
Sunweb speeds up anyway, O’Connor attacks
Deceuninck-Quick-Step had ridden all day and the leading group started the final climb with a lead of 5.35 minutes due to a considerable intermediate acceleration of the pack. In that leading group, De la Parte took over, ahead of his leader Zakarin, before the strongest men remained there. De Gendt continued to do long headings and therefore smoked rider by rider. Still, O’Connor was able to jump five miles from the top. De Gendt was forced to chase, with only Zakarin and Pernsteiner with him.
In the peloton, the well-known classification trains emerged, they and them over the wide roads. Team Sunweb then took responsibility for Kelderman. The pace was thrown into the air to put pressure on everyone. Trek-Segafredo also contributed to this; did Vincenzo Nibali have good legs? The gap to the now lonely leader fell further, with five minutes remaining at 6.6 kilometers from the end.
Everyone in the leading group for themselves
When Jai Hindley took the lead in the peloton at 5.4 kilometers, the game was on the car. Hindley was given the freedom to attack and thus formed a springboard for Kelderman. Almeida, however, still had Fausto Masnada with him and he closed the gap. Deceuninck-Quick-Step took the reins again and beat off Sunweb’s half attack. All customers from the top 10 were further on for the appointment, plus number twelve Jakob Fuglsang. Number eleven Brandon McNulty had to pass.
It thus became an uphill time trial, at the front and with the classification riders. O’Connor saw Pernsteiner coming behind him, but the little climber never got closer than 25 seconds. With that, O’Connor was able to put his hands in the air, after a great solo in the final. Among the favorites there was of course still a sprint in the final kilometer, ideal for Almeida and the other explosive men. Not a second was won … (photo: Sirotti)
Results stage 17 Giro d’Italia 2020
1. Ben O’Connor
2. Hermann Pernsteiner +0.31
3. Thomas De Gendt +1.10
4. Ilnur Zakarin +1.13
5. Kilian Frankiny +1.55
6. Harm Vanhoucke +2.49
7. Davide Villella +3.29
8. Óscar Rodríguez ”
9. Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier +3.30
10. Jesper Hansen +4.32
GC after stage 17 Giro d’Italia 2020
1. João Almeida
2. Wilco Kelderman +0.17
3. Jai Hindley +2.58
4. Tao Geoghegan Hart +2.59
5. Pello Bilbao +3.12
6. Rafal Majka +3.20
7. Vincenzo Nibali +3.31
8. Domenico Pozzovivo +3.52
9. Patrick Konrad +4.11
10. Fausto Masnada +4.26
11. Hermann Pernsteiner +5.07
12. Jakob Fuglsang +5.09
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