Caleb Ewan has won Giro d'Italia stage 7
Caleb Ewan claimed his second bunch sprint victory of the race in a hard fought finish that featured a degree of climbing in Termoli after breakaway riders Simon Pellaud, Umberto Marengo and Mark Christian were reeled in. The Australian responded to an acceleration by Fernando Gaviria to eventually pass Davide Cimolai and Tim Merlier on the line. He moved into the lead of the points classification while Attila Valter retained the Maglia Rosa for a second day.
STAGE RESULTS
1 – Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal)- 181km in 4h42’12”, average speed 38.483 km/h
2 – Davide Cimolai (Israel Start-Up Nation) s.t.
3 – Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Fenix) s.t.
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
1 – Attila Valter (Groupama – FDJ)
2 – Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck – Quick-Step) at 11”
3 – Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) at 16”
JERSEYS
Maglia Rosa (pink), general classification leader, sponsored by Enel – Attila Valter (Groupama – FDJ)
Maglia Ciclamino (cyclamen), sprinter classification leader, sponsored by Segafredo Zanetti – Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal)
Maglia Azzurra (blue), King of the Mountains classification leader, sponsored by Banca Mediolanum – Gino Mäder (Bahrain Victorious)
Maglia Bianca (white), young rider general classification leader, sponsored by Intimissimi Uomo – Attila Valter (Groupama – FDJ), worn by Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck – Quick-Step)
Statistics, Quotes from Caleb Ewan and Attila Valter
5th stage win at the Giro d’Italia for Caleb Ewan after taking victories on Stage 7 to Alberobello in 2017, Stage 8 to Pesaro and Stage 11 to Novi Ligure in 2019, and Stage 5 to Cattolica two days ago.
It’s the 37th Australian stage win at the Giro d’Italia. The series started with Michael Wilson on 15 May in 1982 in Cortona. It puts the country from down under in sixth position on the nations’ tally, on par with Germany.
It’s the first time Caleb Ewan leads the points classification of the Giro d’Italia. Other Australians who have done it before: Robbie McEwen (24 days), Cadel Evans (11), Matt Goss (8), Phil Anderson (7), Graeme Brown (2).
Second stage podium for Davide Cimolai who also came second on Stage 2 to Canale.
Speaking at the press conference, the stage winner Caleb Ewan said: “It was not easier than expected, I’d rather say it was maybe harder than expected, as we needed a full lead out until the corner with 1km to go and it went full gas from that hill. It was a hard one to win. My victory has a lot to do with the work of my teammates. Being a leader isn’t natural for me, I didn’t have any mentors to achieve the role, it came from losing races. I’m a little bit demanding sometimes but I don’t want to be the guy who makes the others uncomfortable when they come to a race.”
Maglia Rosa Attila Valter said: “Mostly, today, I enjoyed myself. I was lucky with the weather and the wind. I’m happy it was not a nervous stage. I heard people shouting my name or ‘Maglia Rosa’. It’s been an incredible reaction from Hungary, more than I could expect. Many non-cycling media wrote about me getting the Maglia Rosa, so people can start to learn about cycling in my country. Yesterday, I didn’t load the race data on my computer but it went well anyway. Tomorrow I’ll listen carefully to what the course is like but the most important thing is that my mind goes well, rather than stressing about the route. It’ll be more demanding tomorrow than today. I think I just need a good sleep to have good legs.”
