Across Tuscany, Liguria and Piedmont, the riders covered nearly 230 kilometres, neutral start included, on the Giro this Wednesday, making it the longest stage of this 2023 edition. In this long eleventh day of racing, the sprinters got the better of the breakaway and Pascal Ackermann grabbed victory. Fabian Lienhard crossed the line in fourteenth position and Thibaut Pinot was credited with the winner’s time after a crash split the peloton in the closing kilometres. The Frenchman is now fourteenth overall, after some favorites abandoned or crashed on Wednesday.
For the fifth time since the start of the Giro d’Italia, the peloton was about to cross the 200-kilometer mark on Wednesday, between Camaiore and Tortona. This time, the exact mileage was 219, in a day probably made for the sprinters. As a consequence, their teams controlled the start of the race in order to let only six men take the lead: Laurenz Rex (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), Filippo Magli (Green Project-Bardiani CSF Faizanè), Diego Pablo Sevilla (EOLO-Kometa), Thomas Champion (Cofidis), Veljko Stojnic and Alexander Konychev (Corratec-Selle Italia). The maximum gap recorded was four minutes, then various teams followed one another and took turns at the head of the pack to maintain or even reduce the gap. It all took place with a certain monotony. “We eventually had less rain than expected, both at the start and at the finish,” explained Sébastien Joly. “It allowed us to spend a slightly quieter day from this point of view”. After a grueling stage for the bodies on Tuesday, the peloton mostly experienced a calm day, although a series of crashes in the downhill of the Colla di Boasi, 70 kilometres from the finish, did have an impact on the race. “In the more technical and wet parts, some favorites crashed,” added Sébastien. “It shows that you need to stay focused on this kind of stage.”
“A rather good day“, Fabian Lienhard
Third overall, Tao Geoghegan Hart was forced to retire, and Pavel Sivakov was distanced minutes away. Subsequently, the peloton gradually got closer to the breakaway, and even accelerated in the final climb of the day. Thibaut Pinot followed the first part of the pack, before everything came back to normal. The last man standing, Laurenz Rex, was caught five kilometres from the line and the anticipated sprint could take place. “The guys did a good job for Thibaut in the final”, commented Sébastien. “They moved him back up and it was good. Jake felt a bit weak today so he couldn’t hold onto the peloton for the sprint, but hopefully things will get better for the next few days.” As the Briton wasn’t there, Fabian Lienhard was the first Groupama-FDJ rider to cross the line, in fourteenth position. “It was a more or less easyday, but I think a lot of riders are tired from the last few days,”said the Swiss man. “I tried to get involved in the sprint, but since I work for others most of the year, my timing wasn’t the best. It was still good to be there. The legs were tired, but it’s getting better and better. Overall, it was a rather good day.”
Caught behind a crash like others in the last three kilometres, Thibaut Pinot was logically ranked at the same time as the winner and is now in fourteenth place overall. “We’re going to get to the heart of the matter, there is a nice final tomorrow, then the mountains”, concluded Sébastien. “Hopefully, Thibaut will take advantage of tomorrow to recover even better”.
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