STAGE 19 – GIRO D’ITALIA

Today’s stage saw the riders faced with a wet and damp 124 kilometres from Abbiategrasso to Asti. As soon as the riders left the neutralised zone, the pace was on, as a group of three riders were followed by a counter attacking group of 11. The two groups eventually combined, forming a strong break of 14 riders out front. Some of the sprint teams, namely Bora, initially tried to control the gap but they eventually stoped pulling.

Team Sunweb took over the pacing at the front of the peloton with Nico Denz, who set a steady tempo as the nearest rider in the breakaway was over one hour down on Wilco’s race lead. Denz continued to pull the bunch as the kilometres ticked by and the breakaway fought out the stage win, with the rest of the team keeping Kelderman and Jai Hindley safe. Eventually the peloton came across the line together, with Kelderman  maintaining the team’s one on GC ahead of tomorrow’s penultimate stage.