Arnaud Démare did not miss much to be able to fight for victory in Jesi this Tuesday, on stage 10 of the Giro which featured a hilly second part. The French sprinter was dropped only one kilometre from the summit of the last climb, and the finish line came too fast for a comeback to be possible. Therefore, Biniam Girmay made history by becoming the first rider from black Africa to win in a Grand Tour. Arnaud Démare now only has a three-point lead for the cyclamen jersey over his young rival, as a stage for pure sprinters looms on Wednesday.
It is by the Adriatic Sea that the Giro’s bunch stopped on Monday for a deserved rest day. It is also by the sea that the race resumed on Tuesday, between Pescara and Jesi. Before tackling an undulating terrain on the second part of the course, the peloton first advanced on a long, flat straight line where the day’s breakaway, made up of three men, was established. Alessandro De Marchi (Israel-Premier Tech), Mattia Bais (Drone Hopper-Androni-Giocattoli) and Lawrence Naesen (AG2R-Citröen) were allowed up to get a five-minute lead at best, before the favourites’ teams, that of Biniam Girmay and Mathieu van der Poel, took responsibility of the chase. The latter, quite intense, first eliminated Caleb Ewan and Mark Cavendish. Entering the last seventy kilometres, around thirty riders were already dropped from the bunch. As for Arnaud Démare, he always remained very attentive. “It was a tough stage, an important one for the ciclamino jersey, so we had to try”, he said. “Our guys showed very good behaviour”, added Sébastien Joly. “The 3/4 headwind was rather an advantage for us during the stage. It slowed down both the breakaway and the chase, and it also prevented the attacks a little. Arnaud really seemed to have good legs, especially seeing his positioning. It is also interesting to see that the whole team was always around him and that many of his teammates only dropped in the final. Everyone was really involved and committed”. Through the ups and downs of the course, the peloton gradually made it back to the breakaway, and the last fugitive was indeed caught with twenty kilometres left to go.
“I did not miss much”, Arnaud Démare
There was only one real climb left to overcome, in Monsano, where the last 1700 meters featured an average slope of 6%. Thanks to a great work from Tobias Ludvigsson and Jacopo Guarnieri, Arnaud Démare approached the bottom in great position and could then fully play his card. “Physically, I felt really good,” he said. “We hung on for a long time. In the last climb, they made a really hard pace, and I did not miss much… I maybe needed to hold on 30 more seconds to be able to reach the top with the bunch”. Following a huge tempo from the Ineos Grenadiers and various attacks, the peloton eventually got to the top with only thirty riders or so left. Dropped one kilometre from the summit, Arnaud Démare entered the downhill a few moments later, but the race no longer calmed down. “We did not stop our effort, we tried to come back and we rode until the last kilometre”, he said. “We didn’t give up until the end, as we didn’t know if they could look at each other. We only finished a minute away, which is not very far. I’m a bit disappointed, but the legs were good regardless. I was feeling well today, and it came close.” At the front of the race, Eritrea’s Biniam Girmay then won the sprint of a very reduced bunch, ahead of Mathieu van der Poel. Thanks to the twenty-five points collected, he is now just three points away from the ciclamino jersey still on Arnaud Démare’s shoulders on Tuesday evening. “We know that Girmay is getting really close”, added Arnaud. “It’s going to be a great challenge and a great show. He is going to be a big rival for the jersey, but our goal was above all tomorrow’s stage”. “As we said again this morning, the main objective remains stage victories”, concluded Sébastien Joly. “If we win, the jersey will come with it”. On Wednesday, the Giro will join Reggio Emilia after 203 kilometres without a single climb.
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