Italy’s Nicola Boem of Bardiani-CSF team won the 10th stage of the Giro d’Italia on Tuesday, with Spanish great Alberto Contador retaining the leader’s pink jersey.
Boem crossed ahead of three Italian breakaway rivals — Matteo Busato, Alessandro Malagatu and Alan Marangoni.
It was the biggest win for 25-year-old Boem since turning professional in 2013.
Photo: AFP
Contador had an extra bonus in his bid to win the Giro as one of his main rivals, Richie Porte, lost valuable time in the stage itself.
He was subsequently penalized another two minutes after the Team Sky rider was helped by fellow Australian Simon Clarke from the Orica-GreenEdge team to mend a puncture — race rules forbid riders from different teams helping rivals.
Boem, whose team is made up of young Italian talent who are regularly invited to compete in the race by the organizers, said: “We were targeting a stage win at this Giro, and it has come in the flattest, most unlikely stage.”
“We worked together, and with 20km to go we had a good advantage. With 1.5km to go, Alan Marangoni attacked,” Boem said.
“I knew I couldn’t let him get away, so I just gave it everything. I dedicate the win to my teammates, who are probably even happier than I am, and to my girlfriend, Federica, who has believed in me and encouraged me every day at this Giro,” Boem said.
Porte, who had been sitting third going into the stage, just 22 seconds behind Contador, lost ground on his rivals, the puncture in the final 5km costing him dearly.
Even though several of his teammates waited for him and tried to help him get back to the peloton, the 30-year-old was barely able to stick with his Sky colleagues and, with the penalty, is 3 minutes, 9 seconds behind the Spaniard.
Contador, who is bidding to become the first rider to pull off the Giro-Tour de France double in the same season since the late Marco Pantani in 1998, sympathized with Porte and revealed he had not found the stage easy either.
“It was anything but an easy day,” the 32-year-old said. “Every day at the Giro can hold surprises. The other day it was my crash. Today, Richie had an unfortunate puncture. It is always annoying to lose time that way, although, with everything that lies ahead of us, the time lost is very small,” Contador said.
Porte’s team sporting director said he hoped such mishaps would not influence the overall outcome.
“I hope that the fate of the Giro will not hang on a mechanical problem or a fall like what happened to Contador the other day [when he dislocated his shoulder on Thursday last week],” Dario Cioni said.
Yesterday’s 11th stage was to cover 153km from Forli to Imola.
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