LEnnard Kämna defended his sixth overall place at the 106th Giro d’Italia with his last strength, while in the duel of the superstars, Olympic champion Primoz Roglic reported back. On Thursday, Kämna reached the finish line on the difficult mountain stage over 161 kilometers from Oderzo to Val di Zoldo, almost three minutes behind the Italian winner of the day, Filippo Zana, leaving his closest rivals behind.
Former Tour de France champion Geraint Thomas remains at the top of the overall standings. On his 37th birthday, he and the reinvigorated Slovenian Primoz Roglic finished just under two minutes behind the escapees in Val di Zoldo. Roglic thus moved up to second place in the overall standings on the Portuguese Joao Almeida and can continue to dream of his first Giro triumph. The Slovenian professional cyclist had shown weaknesses during the stage, but was at his best in the final. Thomas is now 29 seconds ahead of Roglic, closely followed by Almeida (+0:39).
Battle in the mountains
In the fight for the day’s victory, Zana prevailed in the sprint against the French star Thibaut Pinot. However, former Tour third-placed Pinot moved up to seventh overall and retains the mountain jersey. In the overall standings, Kämna is 4:27 minutes behind and is therefore still within striking distance of places four and five.
The next exchange of blows in the mountains follows on Friday, when the extremely difficult final ascent to the Drei Zinnen with gradients of 18 percent awaits the drivers. A total of three climbs in the first and two in the second category have to be mastered on the 183-kilometer 19th stage from Longarone to the top of the mountain. On Saturday, the mountain time trial to Monte Lussari follows, before the final stage, starting and finishing in Rome, should be a matter for the sprinters on Sunday.
