Giro d’Italia Stage 10: Girmay Nabs One other Historic Win

Intermarché’s Biniam Girmay outlasted Alpecin-Fenix star Mathieu van der Poel in a long sprint to the line in Jesi to take the 10th stage of the Giro d’Italia and to establish another first for the rising star. Girmay calmly waited for a chaotic finale to play itself out, with van der Poel launching one attack and with the general classification riders taking a turn at the front as the peloton came over the final climbs of the day to the stage conclusion. Girmay, with teammates on hand to help him hold his place and stay calm, correctly foresaw the final bunch sprint happening, minus the pure sprinters, opening the door to the fast-finishing all-rounders, particularly van der Poel and Girmay. Sure enough, when Girmay launched his sprint from 100 meters out, he drew only the Dutchman for a serious challenge. It seemed like Girmay may have started too soon, but it was van der Poel who couldn’t make it all the way to the line, sitting up in the final 20 meters and saluting the Eritrean’s victory.

With so few Black Africans in cycling history, every win by Girmay will be regarded as history, as today’s was. But it’s undoubtedly similarly important to the 22-year-old that his career is so quickly veering toward stardom. Following his first World Tour win in Gent-Wevelgem, he now owns a grand tour stage victory, and his future seems limitless as he demonstrates and continues to develop his diverse set of skills. Unfortunately, his day took a turn for the worse when his attempt to open the traditional prosecco bottle ended with him being struck in the eye by the cork, and Girmay went to the hospital to check for harm. Hopefully his Giro will continue tomorrow, for many reasons including the fact that he is threatening to take the maglia ciclamena off the shoulders of Arnaud Demare, who holds a three-point lead (151-148) after Girmay’s stage win. No changes on GC among the top riders.

Results:

1. GIRMAY Biniam, Intermarché – Wanty – Gobert Matériaux, 4:32:07
2. VAN DER POEL Mathieu, Alpecin-Fenix
3. ALBANESE Vincenzo, EOLO-Kometa
4. KELDERMAN Wilco, BORA – hansgrohe
5. CARAPAZ Richard, INEOS Grenadiers
6. BOUWMAN Koen, Jumbo-Visma
7. BARDET Romain, Team DSM
8. BILBAO Pello, Bahrain – Victorious
9. ALMEIDA João, UAE Team Emirates
10. SCHMID Mauro, Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team

Pescara – Jesi 196 km

Gentle day after the rest, rolling second half but nothing too bad.

Downhill 8 km to the finish after Monsano. It’s a challenge for the sprinters for sure.

Expected finish: 17:00 – 17:30 CEST

Poor sap of the Day : Caleb Ewan

I’m almost afraid to pick anyone after the Blockhaus debacle but surely this should work for Lotto if they try?

Official site , Startlist