Calm before the storm
Animating the long 220-kilometre journey from Burgas to Veliko Tarnovo were Mirco Maestri and Diego Pablo Sevilla (Polti VisitMalta), who spent almost the entire day out front, with the Spaniard taking the opportunity to strengthen his grip on the Maglia Azzurra over the Byala Pass and Vratnik Pass.
All eyes had been on the climb to the Lyaskovets Monastery, set to be tackled 10 kilometres from the finish, but the race exploded for all the wrong reasons around 20 kilometres from the line, when a crash — triggered among the UAE riders on rain-slick roads — brought down more than 20 riders, with the roadside barriers inevitably worsening the impact for several of them. The race was neutralised for a few minutes and, once action resumed, Egan Bernal and Thymen Arensman (Netcompany Ineos) picked up 6 and 4 bonus seconds respectively at the Red Bull KM.
On the climb to the Monastery, Davide Piganzoli laid the groundwork for the first real attack of this Giro by Jonas Vingegaard. The Dane pulled clear alongside Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) and Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto Intermarché), while behind them a chasing group of around 25 riders began to form. The leading trio plunged into the descent determined to fight for victory in Veliko Tarnovo, carrying an advantage of around 20 seconds, but as the finish approached they began to hesitate and watch each other. That first allowed Jan Christen – virtually the sole survivor for UAE Team Emirates-XRG – to bridge across, before the entire chasing group swept back into contention inside the final 500 metres.
That’s when Christian Scaroni took centre stage, delivering the perfect lead-out to launch teammate Guillermo Thomas Silva to a historic victory — and, from today, the new face of Uruguayan cycling.