After 19 stages, the 102nd Giro d’Italia is not determined yet.
Friday’s stage featured a misery-inducing climb over the last 31 km up to the finish at San Martino di Castrozza and Colombia’s Esteban Chaves won his third career stage in the Giro d’Italia with a determined breakaway.
“It is unbelievable, I never give up,” Chaves said afterwards. “I attacked many times until I dropped everyone. This is one I had to dig out and I am so happy.”
He finally got to the lead alone with only about 2.5 km left, but he won by 10 seconds over Italy’s Andrea Vendrame and 12 ahead of Amaro Antunes (POR).
In the race for the overall title, Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz carefully tracked his primary rivals – Vincenzo Nibali (ITA) and Primoz Roglic (SLO) – and finished with them, 6:29 back. So going into the final weekend of racing:
1. 83:52:22 Richard Carapaz (ECU)
2. +1:54 Vincenzo Nibali (ITA)
3. +2:16 Primoz Roglic (SLO)
4. +3:03 Mikel Landa (ESP)
5. +5:07 Bauke Mollema (NED)
Saturday’s Stage 20 is a 194 km ride from Feltre to Croce D’Aune, finishing on the Monte Avena. The route includes three major climbs in the first 134 km and then finishes uphill. If Nibali is going to make a charge for the overall title, this is his chance. But Roglic might have a different strategy.
The Stage 21 Time Trial in Verona is a 17 km course with one climb in the middle. Roglic has won the other two time trials easily and if he can make up some time on Saturday, could envision winning the race on Sunday. In the other two time trials:
Stage 1: 8.0 km
1. 12:54 Roglic
3. +0:23 Nibali
14. +0:47 Carapaz
Stage 9: 34.8 km
1. 51:52 Roglic
4. +1:05 Nibali
11. +1:55 Carapaz
Is Roglic still in shape to perform like this on Sunday? He’s been having a tough time since the middle of the race, but if he can close to within about 1:15 of Carapaz on Saturday, he has a chance. Nibali is also a better time-trialer than Carapaz, but also need to make up time in Stage 20 to have a shot at his third Giro title on Sunday. Summaries so far:
UCI World Tour/Giro d’Italia
Italy ~ 11 May-2 June 2019
(Full results here)
Stage 1 (8.0 km Time Trial): 1. Primoz Roglic (SLO), 12:54; 2. Simon Yates (GBR), 13:13; 3. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA), 13:17; 4. Miguel Angel Lopez (COL), 13:22; 5. Tom Dumoulin (NED), 13:22. Also in the top 25: 21. Chad Haga (USA), 13:48.
Stage 2 (205.0 km): 1. Pascal Ackermann (GER), 4:44:43; 2. Elia Viviani (ITA), 4:44:43; 3. Caleb Ewan (AUS), 4:44:43; 4. Fernando Gaviria (COL), 4:44:43; 5. Arnaud Demare (FRA), 4:44:43.
Stage 3 (220.0 km): 1. Gaviria (COL), 5:23:19; 2. Demare (FRA), 5:23:19; 3. Ackermann (GER), 5:23:19; 4. Matteo Moschetti (ITA), 5;23:19; 5. Giocomo Nizzolo (ITA), 5:23:19. (Viviani (ITA) won the race, but was disqualified for impeding another rider at the finish.)
Stage 4 (235.0 km): 1. Richard Carapaz (ECU), 5:58:17; 2. Ewan (AUS), 5:58:17; 3. Diego Ulissi (ITA), 5:58:17; 4. Ackermann (GER), 5:58:19; 5. Florian Senechal (FRA), 5:58:19.
Stage 5 (140.0 km): 1. Ackermann (GER), 3:15:44; 2. Gaviria (COL), 3:15:44; 3. Demare (FRA), 3:15:44; 4. Ewan (AUS), 3:15:44; 5. Matteo Moschetti (ITA), 3:15:44. Also in the top 25: 13. Sean Bennett (USA), 3:15:44
Stage 6 (238.0 km): 1. Fausto Masnada (ITA), 5:45:01; 2. Valerio Conti (ITA), 5:45:06; 3. Jose Joaquin Rojas (ESP), 5:45:39; 4. Ruben Plaza (ESP), 5:45:39; 5. Giovanni Carboni (ITA), 5:45:44. Also in the top 25: 20. Brent Bookwalter (USA), 5:52:20.
Stage 7 (185.0 km): 1. Pello Bilbao (ESP), 4:06:27; 2. Tony Gallopin (FRA), 4:06:32; 3. Davide Formolo (ITA), 4:06:32; 4. Lucas Hamilton (AUS), 4:06:36; 5. Mattia Cattaneo (ITA), 4:06:36. Also in the top 25: 23. Joe Dombrowski (USA), 4:07:34.
Stage 8 (239.0 km): 1. Ewan (AUS), 5:43:32; 2. Viviani (ITA), 5:43:32; 3. Ackermann (GER), 5:43:32; 4. Fabio Sabatini (ITA), 5:43:32; 5. Manuel Belletti (ITA), 5:43:32.
Stage 9 (34.8 km Time Trial): 1. Roglic (SLO), 51:52; 2. Victor Campenaerts (BEL), 52:03; 3. Bauke Mollema (NED), 52:52; 4. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA), 53:57; 5. Tanel Kangert (EST), 53:02. Also in the top 25: 6. Haga (USA), 53:06.
Stage 10 (145.0 km): 1. Demare (FRA), 3:36:07; 2. Viviani (ITA), 3:36:07; 3. Rudiger Selig (GER), 3:36:07; 4. Ewan (AUS), 3:36:07; 5. Nizzolo (ITA), 3:36:07. Also in the top 25: Bennett (USA), 3:36:07.
Stage 11 (221.0 km): 1. Ewan (AUS), 5:17:26; 2. Demare (FRA), 5:17:26; 3. Ackermann (GER), 5:17:26; 4. Viviani (ITA), 5:17:26; 5. Davide Cimolai (ITA), 5:17:26. Also in the top 25: 10. Bennett (USA), 5:17:26.
Stage 12 (158.0 km): 1. Cesare Benedetti (ITA), 3:41:49; 2. Damiano Caruso (ITA), 3:41:49; 3. Eddie Dunbar (IRL), 3:41:49; 4. Gianluca Brambilla (ITA), 3:41:51; 5. Eros Capecchi (ITA), 3:41:55.
Stage 13 (196.0 km): 1. Ilnur Zakarin (RUS), 5:34:40; 2. Mikel Nieve (ESP), 5:35:15; 3. Mikel Landa (ESP), 5:36:00; 4. Carapaz (ECU), 5:36:18; 5. Bauke Mollema (NED), 5:36:25. Also in the top 25: 13. Dombrowski (USA), 5:39:05.
Stage 14 (131.9 km): 1. Carapaz (ECU), 4:02:23; 2. S. Yates (GBR), 4:03:55; 3. Nibali (ITA), 4:04:17; 4. Rafal Majka (POL), 4:04:17; 5. Mikel Landa (ESP), 4:04:17. Also in the top 25: 9. Dombrowski (USA), 4:04:17; … 24. Sepp Kuss (USA), 4:09:43.
Stage 15 (232.0 km): 1. Dario Cataldo (ITA), 5:48:15; 2. Mattia Cattaneo (ITA), 5:48:15; 3. S. Yates (GBR), 5:48:26; 4. Hugh Carthy (GBR), 5:48:26; 5. Carapaz (ECU), 5:48:26. Also in the top 25: 22. Dombrowski (USA), 5:50:22.
Stage 16 (194.0 km): 1. Giulio Ciccone (ITA), 5:36:24; 2. Jan Hirt (CZE), 5:36:24; 3. Masnada (ITA), 5:37:44; 4. Nibali (ITA), 5:38:05; 5. Carthy (GBR), 5:38:05. Also in the top 25: 8. Dombrowski (USA), 5:38:05.
Stage 17 (181.0 km): 1. Nans Peters (FRA), 4:41:34; 2. Esteban Chaves (COL), 4:43:08; 3. Formolo (ITA), 4:43:25; 4. Masnada (ITA), 4:43:25; 5. Krists Neilands (LAT), 4:43:25.
Stage 18 (222.0 km): 1. Damiano Cima (ITA), 4:56:04; 2. Ackermann (GER), 4:56:04; 3. Simone Consonni (ITA), 4:56:04; 4. Florian Senechal (FRA), 4:56:04; 5. Ryan Gibbons (RSA), 4:56:04. Also in the top 25: 9. Bennett (USA), 4:56:04.
Stage 19 (151.0 km): 1. Chaves (COL), 4:01:31; 2. Andrea Vendrame (ITA), 4:01:41; 3. Amaro Antunes (POR), 4:01:43; 4. Giovanni Carboni (ITA), 4:01:55; 5. Pieter Serry (BEL), 4:02:03.
01 June: Stage 20 (194.0 km) ~ Feltre to Croce D’Aune-Monte Avena (mountains)
02 June: Stage 21 (17.0 km Time Trial) ~ Verona to Verona
