What a victory for Valentin Paret-Peintre (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale)! The 23-year-old Frenchman went for his first success on a grand tour, with panache, during the 10th stage of the Giro 2024, between Pompeii and Cusano Mutri (142 km). All just ahead of his compatriot Romain Bardet (DSM-Firmenich PostNL). The two Blues countered Jan Tratnik (Visma-Lease a Bike), author of a solo festival.
The Slovenian took the lead of the race 35 km from the finish, after taking advantage of an acceleration from Filippo Fiorelli (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè) to explode the leading group. At the end of a short solo number, he widened the gap, second after second. Until being more than a minute ahead, 15 km from the end of the race, over the chasing group.
The French in good shape
A breakaway was made up of the French Valentin Paret-Peintre (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Romain Bardet, in addition to the Italians Marco Frigo (Israel – Premier Tech) and Andrea Bagioli (Lidl-Trek). The group was then unable to gain seconds from the race leader.
The Blues then tried to come to an agreement to approach Jan Tratnik in pairs. 3 km from the finish, Valentin Paret-Peintre launched a spectacular acceleration, to drop Romain Bardet and overtake the Slovenian, who put up no resistance.
“To be honest, I can’t describe what I feel,” the winner reacted to Eurosport. Winning on a grand tour, for my first professional victory, is something. I dreamed while watching Romain Bardet on TV, today I’m fighting with him, and I beat him! »
A victory one year after that of his big brother, Aurélien, on the 4th stage of the Giro 2023. “Last year, when he won, they were wrong, they had made the bottle of champagne in my name,” says Valentin Paret-Painter. This year, it will still be in my name, but this time it’s no longer a problem. »
Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step) was part of the breakaway for a long time, alongside his French compatriots, but his race took another turn 40 km from the finish. The 2020 and 2021 road world champion let himself be lowered to the medical car, clearly in pain. On the Guardia Sanframondi hill, he was no longer able to follow his escape companions.
For his part, Tadej Pogacar was content to stay in the peloton, more than four minutes behind the race leader. The Slovenian didn’t really need to protect his pink jersey, since his competitors in the general classification decided not to attack him.
