Last call

When Bora-hansgrohe put Wilco Kelderman in front on the Kolovrat, the intentions seemed belligerent, if not to attack from a distance, at least to try and make a bid for the stage win and the resulting bonuses. Jai Hindley, in fact, was one bonus away from the Maglia Rosa. Instead, at the bottom of the Kolovrat descent they stopped, preferring to postpone hostilities to the Dolomite climbs. Eventually, in the last two kilometres, a couple of attacks came anyway, first Richard Carapaz and then Mikel Landa, but the three musketeers once again arrived all together, without even a small gap that could change the classification by a few seconds.

And this time they took it pretty easy at the front too, with Tonelli, Valter, Bouwman and Schmid making an immediate difference on the climbs compared to the others, while Vendrame came back on them like a peregrine falcon on the descent. These five tackled the final climb to the Castelmonte Sanctuary fairly calmly, waiting for the final sprint to give it their all. The shrewdest – and strongest – was Bouwman, who took the lead on the final sharp bend with 70 metres to go, leading Schmid into a braking error, with Vendrame and Schmid himself forced to go long to avoid falling. For the Dutchman, it is the second stage victory in this Giro, adding to the mathematical certainty of having won the Maglia Azzurra. Not a bad Giro!

Tomorrow will feature the last climbs – and quite impressive climbs too! – of this Giro d’Italia: Passo San Pellegrino, Passo Pordoi (Cima Coppi) and Marmolada. This is the last call for everyone, after which it will be the Russian roulette of the Verona time trial to decide who will be the master of this Giro.