Radprofi Alberto Dainese secured the first Italian stage win at the 105th Giro. The 24-year-old from Team DSM prevailed on the eleventh stage from Santarcangelo di Romagna to Reggio Emilia after 203 kilometers in a mass sprint ahead of Colombian Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) and Simone Consonni from Italy. Best German was Phil Bauhaus (Bocholt/Bahrain-Victorious) with ninth place.
Spaniard Juan Pedro Lopez of Team Trek-Segafredo once again defended the overall leader’s pink jersey. Behind them, Richard Carapaz (Ecuador/Ineos Grenadiers) moved up to second place thanks to a three-second time bonus and is now just 12 seconds behind Lopez. Emanuel Buchmann (Ravensburg/Bora-hansgrohe) is still the best German in the overall classification of the Giro d’Italia with a deficit of 1:09 minutes and ninth place.
Yesterday’s winner Biniam Girmay (Eritrea/Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert Materiaux) was unable to start after his mishap on the podium. The Eritrean accidentally shot the cork of the winning champagne in the left eye at the award ceremony. The 22-year-old was taken to a hospital for tests. Although no serious injury was found, Girmay decided not to start on Wednesday and dropped out of the Giro. “I have to take care of my eye,” he said in a video message in the morning.
On Thursday there is a 204-kilometer section from Parma and Genoa. The peloton can expect two climbs in the third category and one climb in the second category before it flattens out to the finish. The Giro ends after 3410 kilometers on May 29 in Verona.
