Slovak cyclist Peter Sagan achieved a stage victory during his premiere start at the Giro d’Italia, which he had been waiting for for more than a year.
After a long escape, the three-time world champion dominated the tenth stage, before which the peloton thinned considerably due to positive tests for coronavirus, thus completing a collection of laurels from all three Grand Tours. The pink jersey of the leader was defended by the Portuguese Joao Almeida.
Sagan, 30, celebrated his first win since last July. At the end of the 177-kilometer route, he was left alone in the escape and celebrated his 17th triumph in one of the Grand Tours. The last time the captain of the Bora-hansgrohe team rejoiced last July was at the Tour de France, where he succeeded twelve times during his career, at Giro he had to settle for second place three times this year.
“I’m very happy. Finally! I’ve been trying to do that since we restarted the season, Strade Bianche, San Remo, Tour de France. I’ve been on the podium many times or in the top five, but I celebrated my last win last year at Tour de France – this is the time, “said Sagan.
He did not plan an attack to win the solo escape. “After the second, third, fourth places, I let it go and stopped pushing for it – and finally the win came. I’m very happy about it. I finally won on my own. I created the race, showed the show and took the victory,” he added.
American Brandon McNulty finished second with a gap of 19 seconds today, bringing the main field to the finish line with the loss of another four seconds to Almeida. Thanks to the bonus, he increased his lead at the top of the standings over the Dutch Wilce Kelderman to 34 seconds.
Due to positive tests for coronavirus, one of the favorites for the overall championship Steven Kruijswijk from the Netherlands and the elite Australian spurt Michael Matthews did not start today. Two complete stables also resigned from the race, Kruijswijk’s Jumbo-Visma and also Mitchelton-Scott, whose team included four infections. In one case, they have Ag2r-La Mondiale and Ineos-Grenadiers.
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