You did of course commit Diego Ulissi’s name to memory after he won stage four. Just as well really being as he won stage 11 as well. The Italian has now won 16 races in his home country since 2012 and none anywhere else.
Maybe the distance is finally starting to tell in this Giro. Look at the profile above and a sprint finish seemed likely, if not probable. But the rumpling over on the right hand side was enough that the stage ended up a battle between the general classification contenders.
For the second stage in a row, Andrey Amador produced the attack that stuck. Race leader Bob Jungels went with him and then Ulissi followed. The Italian was the fastest finisher and moves into the top ten overall, but Jungels and Amador gained another 15 valuable seconds on the men immediately behind them.
Bad days and final days
They gained more than that on Domenico Pozzovivo who got stuck behind a crash and lost over a minute. Tom Dumoulin, meanwhile, has abandoned the race. He’s had saddle sores for a while now and while they’re just about tolerable when you’re wearing the pink jersey of race leader, they’re a pain in the arse, or thighs, or grundle, when you’re not.
Stage 12
Come on, this one has to be a sprint stage. Just look at it. It’s so boring that the official stage preview doesn’t just mention roundabouts, it also mentions kerbs.
Local delicacies of the region include ‘radicchio and all related recipes’ and ‘seafood in general’.
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