Giro d’Italia, the breakaway arrives: Cort Nielsen wins. Thomas remains in the pink jersey

VIAREGGIO – On the Giro it continues to rain black. Between Scandiano and Viareggio, for one of the simplest stages on paper, it rained practically from start to finish and for the riders, getting the bike to the finish line was colossal suffering. The one who flees wins, again, and this time after 174 km in the wind it’s up to the Danish Magnus Cort Nielsen, a phenomenon on occasions like this. A three-way action from a distance with the Canadian Derek Gee and the Friulian Alessandro De Marchi is the right one. The group let it go, but it really wasn’t an easy day.

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Frost on Passo delle Radici, the riders try to shorten the stage

Very cold on the first of the two gpm of the day, the Passo delle Radici, between Emilia and Tuscany. And before the start, yet another list of withdrawals due to Covid: three in one day, 12 who did not finish the stage. In addition to the highly announced forfeits of Evenepoel and Uran, they leave Pozzovivo, Bystrom and Scotson due to viruses, Wurtz Schmidt, Taaramae, Riesbeek, Kung due to various ailments. In the stage, the withdrawals of Petilli, Tusveld and above all of the Russian Aleksandr Vlasov, who started sixth in the general from Scandiano, have not even arrived by bike at the top of Passo delle Radici (but it would not be Covid). All highly dramatic and surreal. Before the start, the runners tried to ask the organization for a review of the route, with the first part cut and the race only in the last 70 km, in a less heated climate than on other similar occasions. No way. Geraint Thomas showed up in pink, as announced. Gimondi and Savoldelli, the two who inherited the jersey from Merckx and Pantani on the day of their retirements as leaders, did not wear it.

The race

The race is there and it is still alive, full of emotions. The three-man breakaway of the day was born uphill: De Marchi, Gee and Cort Nielsen reached the 5-minute advantage, then the group inexorably recovered, but also lost many pieces. Matthews, Gaviria and many others get caught in the rear. 50 from the finish, tragedy was almost upon us: Barguil was hit by the Astana flagship, Bettiol hit a mechanic, got angry, then set off again. Even Barguil resumes in tears. A bland attempt downhill by Caruso’s Bahrain does no harm. We all go together, even if mending the three proves to be very difficult and at a certain point impossible. De Marchi replies what happened in Naples together with Simon Clarke and the teams of leaders, Ineos and Jumbo, put the pace to sleep at the head of the group, favoring the fugitives. The first attack is placed by Gee, the first to jump is De Marchi. Cort Nielsen is the fastest and crashes on Gee’s wheel, De Marchi returns, but pulls the sprint to the other two and it is Cort Nielsen who wins ahead of the Canadian and the Italian. Pedersen wins the group sprint 55” from the leading trio. For Cort Nielsen, 30, it is the first career victory in the Giro, the twenty-sixth in his career: he too, like his compatriot Pedersen in Naples, joins the club of winners of at least one stage in all the grand tours.

Thomas: “The pink jersey was a dream I’ve had since I was a child”

Felice Geraint Thomas at the end of his first day in the squad: “A lot of things have happened. Terrible weather conditions, but I managed to enjoy the pink jersey. It was a special stage for me. Tactically, the Giro has changed a lot after Remco’s retirement. We want to keep the jersey as long as possible, but let’s hope the weather improves. The pink jersey is a huge honor. I started with Barloworld, a South African team based in Tuscany. And I’ve always dreamed of wearing the pink jersey since I was just a child.” Thomas’ second day in pink will be complicated: the Camaiore-Tortona is the longest stage of the Giro (219km), with three mountain grands prix, the last in the fourth category with 45km to go.