Stage 7 of the Giro d’Italia did not cause the expected damage on Friday towards the Campo Imperatore, in Gran Sasso d’Italia. After forty kilometres of irregular climbing, the favorites let the breakaway fight for the victory and eventually only battled in the last kilometre. No gap was therefore made between the overall contenders, but Thibaut Pinot still took third place in the “bunch”, which meant sixth for the stage. Although he had to pass on his blue jersey to the stage winner Davide Bais, he gained two positions in the general classification (15th).
After a week of racing, the Giro d’Italia returned to Abruzzo on Friday, with the first stage in the high mountains. The riders really gained height in this seventh day of racing, which took them almost 2200 meters above sea level in Gran Sasso d’Italia. Thibaut Pinot surely knew what to expect, after taking second place there in 2018. The long and irregular ascent (47 kilometres) towards the Campo Imperatore was however only tackled after 171 kilometres. Surprisingly, a breakaway of three riders – initially of four – approached it with a huge gap of twelve minutes on the peloton. “The stage was rather quiet, especially at the start since there was no fight for the breakaway”, testified Stefan Küng. “Then, we especially needed to eat well and cover ourselves well because of the rain and the cold”. While Davide Bais (Eolo-Kometa), Karel Vacek (Corratec-Selle Italia) and Simone Petilli (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) were given the opportunity to fight for victory, the peloton remained quite relaxed, including in the ascent of Calascio (13.5 km at 6%), the first part of the final climb. Thibaut Pinot was even able to score a few points for the “maglia azzurra”, as he did previously in the stage in Roccaraso. “We went for the remaining points since there were only four, then three men in front”, added Stefan. “Even if we knew that it was going to be hard to keep the jersey with the fifty points at the finish, it was still worth it to take them”.
“No one really wanted to expose themselves”, Sébastien Joly
After the first climb of the final, the bunch still included a hundred riders, and it didn’t reduce much until the last five kilometres, which were more demanding. It’s only with three kilometres to go that the action kind of started, while Davide Bais took the win at the summit. “We were all expecting a harder race today”, confessed Sébastien Joly. “In the end, the big teams really looked at each other. It shows that no one really wanted to expose themselves. It’s rather good news because it means that no one is really sure of their strengths, may it be collective or individual”. “We had to be careful on the last climb, but with the headwind, it was pretty calm in the peloton”, said Stefan, who stayed with Thibaut until the final slopes. “It really wasn’t very hard and so we had a pretty decent day, without accumulating too much fatigue”. Thirty men eventually fought in the sprint in the last kilometre, and Thibaut Pinot snatched third place in the peloton behind Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic, which meant sixth in the stage. “Even if it didn’t go very fast, it shows that Thibaut is up there”, said Stefan. “To be third in the sprint after more than six hours on the saddle is always a good sign”. “Even if he lost his blue jersey, it’s not a big deal”, added Sébastien. “In the end, we had a good day”.
Now behind Davide Bais in the mountain classification (86 points vs 50, editor’s note), the French climber however climbed two places overall and finds himself in fifteenth position on Friday evening. Tomorrow, a hilly and tricky final is anticipated in Fossombrone, where Thibaut Pinot also raced back in 2019 in Tirreno-Adriatico.
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