Source : ABC NEWS
Jonas Vingegaard made his first major move of the Giro d’Italia, powering away from his rivals on the famed Blockhaus climb to claim victory on stage seven of this year’s race.
Coming at the end of a hideously long 244-kilometre stage — the longest stage with this much climbing in a grand tour since 2000 — the Blockhaus was always going to be decisive.
And so it proved for the list of key contenders, all of whom have had it confirmed in painful clarity as they saw Vingegaard ride away as the day’s racing ticked into its seventh hour, becoming the 115th rider to win stages at all three grand tours.
“Today we wanted to go for the victory, and I’m extremely happy that I managed to achieve it,” Vingegaard told the Giro at the race conclusion.
“My teammates did an extraordinary job, and I’m pleased to have been able to turn all their effort into a result.
“We kept several options open, waiting for the right moment to attack.”
Only Austrian climber Felix Gall of Decathlon CMA CGM could compete with the Danish star, riding a sensible tempo to eventually finish just 13 seconds in arrears.
Australian hope Jai Hindley came in third place on the day, 1:02 behind, three seconds ahead of his Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe teammate Guilio Pellizzari, who in a clear case of misguided, youthful impetuosity, attempted to match Vingegaard’s earlier acceleration before imploding.
Jai Hindley came home third on the day. (Getty Images: Tim de Waele)
Ben O’Connor also impressed to finish alongside Pellizzari, while Michael Storer also finished in the top 10 on the day in ninth, 1:44 behind Vingegaard.
Alfonso Eulálio remains in the leaders pink jersey for now after a gutsy ride to finish 15th, holding onto his overall lead by 3:17 from Vingegaard.
Hindley (at 4:25) is fourth, O’Connor (at 4:32) is sixth and Storer (at 5:11) is 10th overall.
“I’m definitely satisfied to have gained time on the maglia rosa and on my rivals,” Vingegaard added.
“It was a great day for me and for the whole team. Felix Gall is a very high-level opponent: even before the race, I knew he was very strong and would be one of the riders to watch most closely.”
Every rider in this year’s race knew that the two-time Tour de France winner was going to make his move on the 13.6km, 8.4 per cent gradient climb, a mountain that has crowned the past two Giro winners on its slopes.
But there is a huge difference in knowing and being able to do anything about it, as Vingegaard proved so emphatically.
Team Visma | Lease a Bike set the pace heading onto the climb for their leader who exploded off the front with 5.5km remaining until the summit.
Hindley’s teammate Pellizzari tore off after him but cracked after a kilometre of trying to hold the Dane’s wheel, eventually caught by the two Western Australians working in tandem.
Ben O’Connor and fellow Western Australian Jai Hindley climbed the upper reaches of the Blockhaus together. (Getty Images: Dario Belingheri)
“In the final I felt good, so I tried to follow Vingegaard when he attacked,” Pellizzari told his team’s website.
“But of course that effort cost something.
“Still, both Jai and I were up there today and now both of us are in the top five. We can take a lot from today for the next mountain stages. Now we recover and keep going.”
The biggest winner on the day aside from Vingegaard was O’Connor’s former teammate Gall, whose sensible ride was the only thing that stood between Vingegaard and total domination on the day.
“It was a really hard pace from the bottom by Visma,” Gall told Cycling Pro Net.
“At first I was a bit annoyed that I couldn’t follow Pellizzari and Jonas, but in the end it was the right choice.”
Gall noted that he did not have the time trialling ability to challenge Vingegaard for the overall race honours, with the 42km test on stage 10 looming large for all the favourites, insisting that he was happy to continue riding his own race.
“He is the best grand tour rider we have aside from Tadej [Pogačar],” Gall said.
“I am not thinking about how to beat him for now, I am just happy with my performance.”
After the gruelling seventh stage, Saturday’s eighth stage sees riders ride 156km from Chieti to Fermo.
Starting on the flat along the Adriatic coast, the road profile soon turns jagged though, with a series of fiercely steep climbs to test the legs of the overall favourites once more.
