Buitrago wins despite a fall, Carapaz still in pink
The Colombian Santiago Buitrago is awarded the 17th stage of the Giro, 168 kilometers long between Ponte di Legno and Lavarone. The South American climber is ahead of Gijs Leemreize and Jan Hirt. Richard Carapaz, Jai Hindley and Mikel Landa are again neutralized in the final ascent.
At the end of the 168 kilometers crisscrossing the roads of Trentino, it was Santiago Buitrago (Baharain Victorious) who won the jackpot by winning ahead of Gijs Leemreize this Wednesday on the Giro. The Colombian won the second success of his young career when he could have lost everything in a fall 80 km from the goal. Richard Carapaz is still clinging to the pink jersey and is three seconds ahead of his runner-up Jai Hindley.
This 18th stage between Ponte di Legno and Lavarone was one of the last opportunities for the adventurers to grab a nice success on the roads of the Giro. It is therefore no surprise that a group of 25 riders took the lead from the start of the race. The peloton, once again disinterested in the stage, let the fighters explain themselves to the front.
Certainly not the best climber of this breakaway, the Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel anticipates the fight shortly before the terrifying Monte Rovere (8km at 9.6%). At the foot of this pass, he has a 1’30 lead over a counter group led by Hugh Carthy, Santiago Buitrago and Jan Hirt, all three of whom have been very active up front in recent days. Finally, only Buitrago manages to return to MvdP in Monte Rovere. He drops Leemreize and Van der Poel, and savors his success in his jersey damaged by the fall.
Third on the line, Jan Hirt, winner the day before and 9th in the general classification this morning, made a nice leap by returning to 7th place, seven minutes behind Carapaz.
Almeida draws, Carapaz clings
Led by Richie Porte, the Ineos blast the peloton into the Monte Rovere. Once again only Mikel Landa and Jai Hindley can keep up with the frantic pace of Carapaz and his Australian teammate. Big loser of this stage, Joao Almeida loses almost a minute on Carapaz and jeopardizes his chances of final victory in Verona this Sunday. Guillaume Martin finished 9th in the stage. First Frenchman, he is 16th overall.
This Thursday, the sprinters will have the floor again. After a series of mountainous stages, the big thighs are explained in Treviso. Arnaud Démare will try to get a fourth victory on this 18th stage and drive the point home for the cyclamen jersey in the points classification.