Mauro Schmid wins Stage 11 of the Giro d’Italia, Egan Bernal increases his lead in the GC
Mauro Schmid created a huge surprise as he claimed victory on the Wine Stage to Montalcino at the age of just 21. The Swiss newcomer emerged from a breakaway group of 11 riders that included Alessandro Covi, who was beaten on the line, and Harm Vanhoucke, who rounded out the stage podium. The race for the GC was an even more thrilling one, with Egan Bernal riding away from Remco Evenepoel on two occasions. In a decisive move, the Colombian reacted to an acceleration by Aleksandr Vlasov and distanced himself from his rivals to extend his lead in the overall ranking. He now enjoys an advantage of 45’’ over Vlasov, 1’12’’ over Damiano Caruso, 1’17’’ over Hugh Carthy and 1’22’’ over Simon Yates, whereas Evenepoel slipped to 7th at 2’22’’.
STAGE RESULTS
1 – Mauro Schmid (Team Qhubeka Assos) – 162km in 4h01’55”, average speed 40.179 km/h
2 – Alessandro Covi (UAE Team Emirates) at 1″
3 – Harm Vanhoucke (Lotto Soudal) at 26”
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
1 – Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers)
2 – Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana – Premier Tech) at 45”
3 – Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) at 1’12”
4 – Hugh Carthy (EF Education – Nippo) at 1’17”
5 – Simon Yates (Team BikeExchange) at 1’22”
JERSEYS
Maglia Rosa (pink), general classification leader, sponsored by Enel – Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers)
Maglia Ciclamino (cyclamen), sprinter classification leader, sponsored by Segafredo Zanetti – Peter Sagan (Bora – Hansgrohe)
Maglia Azzurra (blue), King of the Mountains classification leader, sponsored by Banca Mediolanum – Geoffrey Bouchard (AG2R Citroen Team)
Maglia Bianca (white), young rider general classification leader, sponsored by Intimissimi Uomo – Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers), worn by Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana – Premier Tech)
Data collected by Velon’s devices on the riders’ bikes tells the story of key moments of the stage. A graphic with today’s data can be found here.
Quotes from the protagonists and statistics
The first pro win for Mauro Schmid, who has also never claimed any international victories in junior and u23 categories before this.
This is the 2nd Swiss stage win this year, again with a debutant at the Giro who has an Italian first name after Gino Mäder on Stage 6 at Ascoli Piceno. It’s the first time since 1998 that Swiss riders have won more than one stage in a single Giro d’Italia. That year, Alex Zülle claimed three victories.
Mauro Schmid, at the age of 21 years, 5 months and 15 days, is the youngest ever Swiss stage winner at the Giro d’Italia. His predecessor was Rolf Järmann, 23, who won at Cosenza in 1989. Schmid is the youngest stage winner at the Giro since Giulio Ciccone at the age of 21 years, 4 months and 27 days when he won at Sestola in 2016.
Speaking at the press conference, the stage winner Mauro Schmid said: “I didn’t expect to take part in a Grand Tour this year but the team believed in me and as soon as I got selected for this amazing race, I targeted today’s stage because of my past as a mountain biker and cyclocross rider. I also have the strength from riding track and I’ll represent Switzerland at the Olympics in the team pursuit this year. I was surprised how easy it was to get into the break and how quickly we gained time over the peloton. Towards the end, I saw everyone suffering and I stopped pulling on the front before the sprint. My sporting director told me to take the last corner on the front. With 50 meters to go I realized I was going to win. It’s unbelievable.”
The Maglia Rosa Egan Bernal said: “I enjoyed riding the gravelled roads. It’s hard to find the right balance because you have to ride at the front in order to not crash but to ride at the front also means that you have to take some risks. It’s important to have a strong team to get to the right place. We executed the plan we had this morning. Today we’ve gained some important seconds but we all know how hard the ten remaining stages are. It’s necessary to keep my feet on the ground and keep respecting all the other favourites. After I missed some training sessions due to my back problems before the Giro, I didn’t think I’d go so well at this stage.”
