Bruno Armirail’s beautiful pink adventure ended on Tuesday during the 16th stage of the Tour of Italy between Sabbio Chiese and Monte Bondone. Leader of the provisional general classification since his long-distance breakaway on Saturday, the Groupama-FDJ tricolor today abandoned his beautiful tunic. He was 1′08′ ahead of Briton Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) at the start. He finds himself at 3′22′. “It was a very very difficult day, he explained to the microphone of Eurosport. The team did a tremendous job. I hung on as much as possible. At 10km from the finish I couldn’t keep up… I spent three extraordinary days, including the rest day. This jersey may change a small part of my career. »
The big fight between the favorites of the Tour of Italy has taken place. The leaders of the general classification went all out on the final climb of Monte Bondone, and it was Joao Almeida who raised his arms at more than 1,500 meters above sea level. The Portuguese of the formation UAE Team Emirates beat in a two-man sprint the Briton Geraint Thomas, the two men having managed to outrun all their rivals. The Slovenian Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma), who drove his team all day, was unable to follow.
Thomas consoles himself all the same with the pink jersey. Armirail crossed the line almost 4′30″ after the winner of the day. The Frenchman clung to his pink fabric until the end but the Haut-Pyrénéen cracked almost 9 km from the finish under the rhythm of the UAE Team Emirates team. Just like his teammate Thibaut Pinot, who conceded nearly 3′30′ on the winner of the day and lost any chance of appearing well in the final general classification.
