Laurence Pithie and the entire Groupama-FDJ cycling team had high expectations from stage 9 of the Giro to Naples, this Sunday. Unfortunately, their hopes were dashed when the New Zealand sprinter suffered a puncture just as the race got crazy. The Kiwi lost more than a minute with the incident and was never able to return. Lewis Askey took part in the attacks in the final before Cyril Barthe obtained twentieth place in the sprint won by Olav Kooij.
The first week of the Giro d’Italia was to come to an end this Sunday, with the longest stage of the event so far taking the riders to Naples. From Avezano, 214 kilometers were on the peloton’s menu, and if there was ever any slight hope for the breakaway, it quickly vanished. From km 0, Mirco Maestri and Andrea Pietrobon took the lead, and were not followed. The Polti-Kometa duo therefore led the way throughout the day, with the peloton in control two minutes behind. The race proved rather quiet for two thirds of the route, but it all got more lively approaching the coast with about fifty kilometres to go. The Groupama-FDJ cycling team then gathered around Laurence Pithie and even was in the very first positions when the first of the four final climbs was tackled. Yet, at the top, the New Zealand rider suffered a stroke of bad luck. “The team worked really well, everything was going really well, then Laurence had a puncture at the worst time,” said Frédéric Guesdon. “The race was very fast at that point. We were quite far away, and we were only able to pass 3/4 cars to help him out. We still tried to bring him back, his teammates chased for him, but it was going too fast in front, and it was too technical to return. It’s very disappointing because I honestly think he had the legs for a top-5 today.”
“It didn’t work out as we hoped,” Frédéric Guesdon
As he lost more than one minute because of the incident, Laurence Pithie quickly saw his chances go out of the window. Besides, some strong attacks occurred in the peloton, and Lewis Askey followed one of them about twenty-five kilometres from the line. The Englishman got a gap with Julian Alaphilippe and Nicola Conci before the sprinters’ teams brought it all back together. Jhonatan Narvaez tried to surprise the fast men with an attack on the final climb, but the pack came back in the very last metres to fight for victory. Olav Kooij took the win while Cyril Barthe got involved in the sprint and placed twentieth. That’s how the first week of the Giro ended for all the riders. “We came here with a lot of ambitions, especially with Laurence, unfortunately it didn’t work out as we had hoped until now,” said Frédéric. “He wasn’t feeling at his best at the start and there is a high level of sprinters. Yet, the boys’ physical condition is good. They committed a lot and did a good job in all the stages where we could play something. We would have deserved better results. We’re obviously satisfied with Enzo’s fourth place. He wasn’t at his best the last two days following his crash on the time trial. The rest day comes at the right time, we’ll recover well tomorrow, and then refocus on next week.”
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