The Slovenian cyclist Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) won the 20th and penultimate stage of the Giro d’Italia this Saturdaycontested over 184 kilometers of a mountainous profile starting in Alpago and finishing in Bassano del Grappa, where he has achieved his sixth partial victory in this 107th men’s edition of a ‘great’ that has already been sentenced.

Pogacar won the finish line with a time of 4:58:23, after a day that had started in the rain and in which a rush by the Italians Davide Ballerini (Astana Qazaqstan) and Lorenzo Germani (Groupama-FDJ) opened some space with the peloton in the early stages. Still with 161 km to go, seven more runners jumped out from behind and went in search of him.

The double ascent of Monte Grappa, with 18 km at 8.1% average and maximum ramps at 14%, was the highlight of the menu. But first the ‘Corsa rosa’ was going to deal with the Muro di Ca’ del Poggio (1.1 km at 11.7%) to whet the appetite. The peloton got stuck while the rain got worse and Ballerini, together with Germani, established their escape in the lead.

They were later joined by Nicola Conci and Jimmy Janssens (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Henok Mulubrhan (Astana), Rubén Fernández (Cofidis), Andrea Vendrame (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Edward Theuns (Lidl-Trek), Pelayo Sánchez (Movistar) , Andrea Pietrobon (Polti Kometa) and Alessandro Tonelli (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè).

Pelayo Sánchez (Movistar) also connected with them and in total the escape with 11 men 141 km from the finish line, reaching a 4:35 advantage over the peloton. The sun then came out, as if it were scripted for the first climb of Grappa. Jimmy Janssens made the strongest attack and the Spaniard from the ‘telephone’ team resisted in the company of Mulubrhan, followed later by Vendrame and Tonelli.

A growth spurt given by Sánchez with Janssens took down first Mulubrhan and later Vendrame, but the trio that was still leading began to have a problem miles behind. The young Italian Giulio Pellizzari (Bardiani CSF) jumped from the peloton and he picked up such a good pace that he caught them 78 km from the finish line, providing a one-on-one with the Asturian.

Although the Movistar rider withstood many challenges, with 46.5 km to go he fell behind in his fight with Pellizzari. In the bulk of the peloton, the UAE Team Emirates directed the cadence, with a view to its leader Pogacar reflecting on whether to take another blow, the umpteenth, to this Giro of 2024. And the ‘Little Prince’ fulfilled that task at 36.8 km from the conclusion.

The Slovenian was 1:04 behind the leader of the race, but his lead was not in danger, so he made the Briton suffer Geraint Thomas (INEOS Grenadiers).

Pogacar attack

Almost a kilometer later, With 5.3 km left to climb the Grappa again, he attacked Pogacar and took little time to hunt down Pellizzari, leaving him with a palpable superiority.

Gradually, his greater leg strength served to distance the Daniel Felipe Martínez (BORA-hansgrohe), second in the general classification and main candidate to also occupy thesecond place in this stage. For this reason, the Colombian accelerated to 19.7 km, being +2: 00 behind Pogacar, and at least secured his place on the final Sunday podium.

The glory through the always beautiful streets of Rome, at the rate of a 21st and final stage of pure process over 125 km flat, It will therefore be for the ‘Little Prince’, who experienced a breakthrough the day before with his descent alone and without mishap towards the finish line of Bassano del Grappa.

Stage classification

1 – POGACAR Tadej (UAE) 4:58:23

2 – PARET-PEINTRE Valentin (Decathlon) + 2:07

3 – MARTÍNEZ Daniel Felipe (BORA) mt

4 – TIBERI Antonio (Bahrain) mt

5 – RUBIO Einer (Movistar) mt

6 – PELLIZZARI Giulio (VF Group) mt

7 – THOMAS Geraint (INEOS) mt

8 – O’CONNOR Ben (Decathlon) mt

9 – STORER Michael (Tudor) + 2:31

10 – MAJKA Rafal (UAE) + 3:08

General ranking

1 – POGACAR Tadej (UAE) 76:22:13

2 – MARTÍNEZ Daniel Felipe (BORA) + 9:56

3 – THOMAS Geraint (INEOS) + 10:24

4 – O’CONNOR Ben (Decathlon) + 12:07

5 – TIBERI Antonio (Bahrain) + 12:49

6 – ARENSMAN Thymen (INEOS) + 14:31

7 – RUBIO Einer (Movistar) + 15:52

8 – HIRT Jan (Soudal) + 18:05

9 – BARDET Romain (dsm-firmenich) + 20:32

10 – STORER Michael (Tudor) + 21:11

Source: Eitb

Kingston

Kingston is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.