The Endless Wait for Blockhaus
Right from the start, despite the 245 km of racing ahead, it becomes clear that everyone’s eyes are fixed solely on Blockhaus. There is no real battle to get into the breakaway, and so Jardi Christiaan Van der Lee (EF Education–EasyPost), Jonathan Milan (Lidl–Trek), Nickolas Zukowsky (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team), Tim Naberman (Team Picnic PostNL) and Diego Pablo Sevilla (Team Polti VisitMalta) go clear, with the Giant of Buja taking the intermediate sprint in Venafro before easing off as soon as the road starts climbing.
Bahrain Victorious and Team Visma | Lease a Bike are clinical in controlling the breakaway and bringing it back at the foot of the climb, with Van der Lee and Zukowsky the last riders to surrender. The intentions of the Dutch team are crystal clear, and the pace set by Davide Piganzoli begins to wear down several big names: Jan Christen (UAE Team Emirates XRG), who will eventually lose 4’29”, Enric Mas (Movistar Team) at 5’47”, Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto) at 3’47”, Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers) at 2’57”, and then the Maglia Rosa Afonso Eulálio are all dropped.
Sepp Kuss delivers one final brutal acceleration for the survivors, and at that moment Vingegaard launches his attack. Pellizzari hangs on, hangs on, hangs on — but after a kilometre he explodes, and for another kilometre he is left seeing stars. He is first caught and dropped by a superb Felix Gall, then joined by Jai Hindley and Ben O’Connor, whose wheel he latches onto and refuses to let go.
Up front, meanwhile, Vingegaard keeps Gall at bay, triumphs atop Blockhaus, and closes the circle: he becomes the 115th rider in history to have won at least one stage at the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta a España. But we are only at the beginning. The Dane still has plenty in store for us in this Giro. Tomorrow, meanwhile, brings one of those stages that should not be underestimated — the day of the Marche walls, on the home roads of Giulio Pellizzari. And if we know him well enough, he won’t be content to play a supporting role.