Tomorrow a rest day, for the first time this week the sun shone in Italy and a course with four tough climbs.
Finally a sporty spectacle between the classification men in the Giro, right?
No, the leaders again did not use the many altimeters, which were inspired by the Tour of Lombardy. Only in the punchy finale did they tickle each other, but that was a measure of nothing.
Bruno Armirail can keep his pink jersey as normal. Everything on the last difficult week then.
Fortunately, the leading group colored the course again today.
None with them sweet doing nothing. From the descent of the flag, a colorful jumble of seventeen front runners formed. Sprinters like Vincenzo Albanese or Davide Ballerini, climbers like Ben Healy or Brandon McNulty, freebooters like Laurens Huys or Marco Frigo … All types of riders were present.
And yet all the non-climbers passively let themselves be led to the slaughter. No one dared to anticipate the last climb, where the climb types left the rest on the spot with a predicted move.
Only Healy, McNulty and Frigo entered the final together. On the humps of Bergamo, the Irishman played the executioner in the final, but Healy also failed to finally release his unruly opponents.
Next time he will use his powers more sparingly in the run-up. In the last straight line, the Irishman also had to react to an ultimate lunge from Frigo, who appeared from the background for the second time.
With that effort too much, he put McNulty in a seat. The American still had all the trouble in the world to take revenge, but on the line he still threw his bike past his opponent. The most beautiful victory in the American’s career.
Brandon McNulty (1e): “It’s indescribable. It was my goal to win here. I tried to go solo, but Healy was really strong. I’m really happy that I finally made it in the sprint. We came here as a team for the general classification , but also for a stage win for me. So now we can fully focus on Almeida, who also looks good.”
Ben Healy (2e): “I tried to release McNulty several times, but I never quite succeeded. He was really strong today. Whether I’m proud or disappointed? Both. I hope the people got a nice show today.”
