Slovakian Peter Sagan on Monday won a mass bunch sprint on stage 10 of the Giro d’Italia at Foligno, Italy, as Colombian Egan Bernal held on to the overall leader’s pink jersey.
Sagan’s Bora-Hansgrohe team dominated the final 50km of the 140km race, setting a sizzling pace to drop Sagan’s rivals before the finale, where the 31-year-old cruised ahead of the reduced field for the win.
Bernal’s countryman Fernando Gaviria was in second place with Italian Davide Cimolai in third.
Photo: AFP
After embarking from the scene of Italy’s deadly 2009 earthquake at L’Aquila a nervy fast-paced race saw only the slightest of changes in the overall standings thanks to second-placed Remco Evenepoel bursting out of the peloton to contest an intermediate sprint.
Yet as pink jersey wearer Bernal followed him over the line with surprising ease Deceuninck-Quick-Step’s Evenepoel earned just a single second.
“I was just following Pippo [Ganna]. I saw an opportunity and I just went behind him. If you’re going behind him it’s easier,” Bernal joked after the ride through lush, rolling terrain in the province of Umbria.
“I took one second, but I didn’t make any effort, so why not?” he added.
Bernal, the 2019 Tour de France champion, leads the overall race standings by 14 seconds from the 21-year-old Belgian rookie, with the top 10 still within 61 seconds of each other.
Yesterday was a rest day.
The peloton’s highest-paid rider Sagan, who reportedly earns 5.5 million euros (US$6.7 million) a year, won a stage of the Giro on his first appearance there last year, and said he would target the sprint points jersey after his second win.
“We didn’t drop everyone, but thanks to my team, the pressure from other teams was less,” Sagan said, although none of the sprint aces Dylan Groenewegen, Tim Merlier or Giacomo Nizzolo contested the final run-in.
“I’ll take it day-by-day, but I’ll try my best. I had good legs and good speed so we’ll see,” the seven-time Tour de France sprint points winner said.
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