On Thursday, the riders had to face a Giant on the Giro d’Italia. The legendary Passo dello Stelvio was supposed to provoke some changes in the general classification and this is exactly what happened as Wilco Kelderman took over the maglia rosa while his teammate Jai Hindley won the stage. However, this major climb was also the last obstacle to the sprinters before the stage 19, made for them. Well surrounded by his teammates, Arnaud Démare completed this monstrous stage within the time limit and could claim a new victory on Friday.
Considered by some as the most beautiful stage of the 2020 Giro, stage 18 was also quite terrifying for others due to the Passo dello Stelvio’s climb (the race’s highest point) before the summit finish in Laghi di Cancano. In itself, the course made the race hard enough, but it could have been even worse according to the weather. “Fortunately, we entered this stage with good weather conditions,” said Sébastien Joly. “The worst was to be feared at this time of year. We could have imagined a horrible day with rain, cold, or even snow. The good thing is that the weather was good enough. It was still 4°C at the top of the Stelvio, but we still started the stage in a good way from that perspective”. The race got underway at full throttle with many attacks on the first climb, from kilometre 0, in order to make the day’s breakaway. However, it only happened forty kilometers later, and there were quite logically not many riders left in the pink jersey group at that point.
“Exceptional circumstances means exceptional measures”, Sébastien Joly
“With that strong pace straight from the start, the guys had to drop back in the first climb,” Sébastien explained. “From there, the important thing was not to panic. We were prepared for it. After the first climb, they even caught another group. Then they managed their stage as usual, often taking control to set the pace. We gave Kilian carte blanche again today, but as he found himself at the back of the group after the efforts he did the day before, we told him to drop back so that he could give a hand to the group around Arnaud. Which he did very well”. From then on, as the battle between the GC contenders was on in front, the gruppetto handled the day as usual: climbing at its own pace, doing downhills and valleys at high speed. However, the day had its own specificity as Arnaud Démare and his teammates made a quick stop during the ascent of the Stelvio. “We knew it would be cold at the top, so we got organized,” Sébastien continued. “Exceptional circumstances means exceptional measures. We had planned to stop three kilometers from the summit so that we could put on some clothes quickly in the gruppetto. The guys were able to put on leg warmers, jackets, raincoats, neck warmers and thanks to that, they could tackle the Stelvio’s downhill in good conditions”.
About forty minutes behind the top three at the top of the mythical climb, the gruppetto eventually crossed the line 50 minutes after the stage winner Jai Hindley. “Our six guys made it to the finish together,” Sébastien concluded. “They managed their efforts another day, but that doesn’t mean that they kept energy. It just means that they did it with their own means, so as not to explode. No matter what stage is the next day, the goal is always the same: to finish on time. That’s what they did well today”. Arnaud Démare will therefore be at the start of stage 19 on Friday, which could end with a sprint. However, with around 260 kilometers to cover and after almost three weeks of racing, other scenarios could occur.
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