Giro d'Italia. Groves wins wet, wild sprint.
Rainy, slippery, messy stage as GC neutralized due to crashes and bad conditions
The dramatic story of the Giro d’Italia today was rain, rain and yes, more rain. From the start in Potenza to the finish in Napoli: nothing but rain. A meteorological mess that changed the entire complexion of the stage.
The chaotic conditions were miserable with plenty of slips, slides and crashes. Sadly Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe’s Jai Hindley and Richard Carapaz (EF Education) went down hard on a descent with 72 kilometers to go.
Hindley, a former Giro winner, was forced to abandon. Which is terrible news for his GC captain Primoz Roglic, who counter to his own reputation for crashes, managed to stay upright.
The GC competition was neutralized at that point so Roglic, Juan Ayuso and guys like Egan Bernal could ease off the gas and take it easy. The man in the pink jersey, Mads Pedersen, did the smart thing and took a vacation day. (He still kept the jersey in the end.)
A two man break of Taco van der Hoorn (Intermarché-Wanty) and Enzo Paleni (Groupama-FDJ) spent a long day out in front. With around five kilometers to go they still had a small chance but two kilometers later, the catch was made. Besides the rainy conditions, several protestors carrying banners ran into the street, disrupting the riders. Fortunately, nobody crashed.
With the GC men and their teammates all several minutes behind, it was time for a reduced group of sprinters and their lead-out men to negotiate the wet streets in Napoli — which even included a short and every more slippery cobblestone section.
It was, as commentator Sean Kelly called it, “a tidy group.” Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) made a bid for redemption but ran out of gas. It’s been that kind of Giro for him. Milan Fretin (Cofidis) took second, with Soudal Quick-Step’s Paul Magnier managed to snag the third spot on the podium.
"With these wet roads it was quite slippery,” said Groves. “Knowing the cobbles started around the 2 k mark, we needed to be in front but in the end we also needed to lead the chase to close the breakaway — they did a super ride"
Groves seemed the ideal candidate for victory, given his success when the weather turns bad. "Once it started raining, I felt quite a bit better actually. I'm quite good in the colder wetter conditions,” said Groves. “For sure I had confidence in my team also, I believe in them and they did a super job."
With the first win of the season in the bag, Groves has a wet monkey off his back. "The team believed in me. it's not been a great start to the season, with the injury I missed a lot of racing,” admitted Groves. “I started here without a win, so the first one of the year is a big relief.”