2018 Giro d’Italia: Stage 11 News, Notes and Quotes

Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) won his second stage dressed in the Maglia Rosa, this time in a solo move at 1400 metres to go on the short uphill finish to Osimo.

Defending champion Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) took second, suggesting his form is improving, while Davide Formolo (Bora-Hansgrohe) finished third. Yates extended his lead to 47 seconds over Dumoulin and 1’04’’ over Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ). Meanwhile, Chris Froome (Team Sky) dropped out of the top 10 overall as he lost another 40 seconds on the Maglia Rosa.

Yates Attacks For Seconds

From the Giro:

The stage winner, the Maglia Rosa Simon Yates, said: “I attacked to gain seconds. The plan at the beginning was to not target the stage win. Normally there are faster guys like Tim Wellens and Enrico Battaglin, and their team chased indeed, but we arrived in the final and Jack Haig did a fantastic job. He led me out to the point where I was instructed to attack if we were to be in this situation. I wasn’t sure who was chasing me but, when I heard on the radio that it was Tom Dumoulin, I was hoping he’d crack because I was at the limit.

“Maybe I should have waited a bit more to make my move in order to gain more time but that was the plan. I had good legs, I managed to get away and I won so I’m happy with that. For the coming days, I’m more afraid of the time trial than the Zoncolan. I’m also hoping for no bad luck as we saw with Esteban [Chaves] yesterday. It just takes one bad moment and the race is over.”

From Mitchelton-SCOTT:

“I only just won. He (Dumoulin) was chasing me all the way in the final there, it was an extremely difficult final. I am super happy and I would like to have a few easy days now before we get to the mountains.

“There was a plan from the beginning. The overall plan from the start in the bus was that we wouldn’t chase through the stage because usually there are guys faster than me in a finish like that. We just let it happen and if it came back then I would obviously go for it. We would try to get to the right hander at the front and then I would do what I could from there and that actually worked out perfectly.

“As for Tom behind me, I didn’t actually know until we crested the climb a little bit towards the top because I was just going full gas and I don’t like to look behind, if I did I wasn’t paying attention to who it was.

“I need more time on these sort of stages and because they are quite explosive I can gain a second or two. Tom is a bit more of a steady climber, he is super hard to drop but these are the stages where I can gain some time. It might be a bit harder once we get to the long climbs so I am happy I could do at least a little bit today.”

Not Enough for Dumoulin

Awaiting a tricky finale, Team Sunweb sat comfortably in the bunch taking care of positioning Tom Dumoulin for the final climb to the line.

As soon as the gradients kicked in with five kilometres to go, the remnants of the break were caught and counter attackers immediately tried their luck. It was the attack from Yates that sparked the GC battle, with Tom the only rider able to follow the eventual race winning move. Digging deep to reduce his losses, Tom displayed his prowess, quickly settling into a seamless rhythm as he worked to close the gap. In what was a thrilling finish, Tom finished the day in 2nd place, just 2 seconds behind the race winner. He remains 2nd in the GC at 47 seconds.

“I wasn’t good enough for the win but I’m super satisfied,” said Dumoulin. “The legs were a bit painful at the beginning but I think everyone had that after yesterday. As the stage progressed I felt much better. I tried to follow Yates but I couldn’t close the gap and stayed at the same distance, I can’t blame myself. I am feeling very good, this is my best result since Jerusalem and my best feeling so far. This coming weekend is going to be super hard and I will give my best to defend this position. It’s still a long way until Rome.”

Formolo Climbs to Third

BORA – hansgrohe climber Davide Formolo was a few seconds behind Dumoulin and came in 3rd. This was BORA – hansgrohe’s 6th podium result after 11 stages. Teammate Konrad finished in 6th place and moved up to 9th place in the overall ranking.

“Today´s stage was maybe short, but not an easy one,” said Formolo after the stage. “The pace was high, but the team worked very well together. In the finale, many riders tried to attack and I was able to stay at the front as we headed through the narrow streets. I wanted to close the gap to the two leaders but took third. It was a special stage, because we went through Michele’s hometown. A win here would have been something special.”

The Numbers:

• Simon Yates took the 25th stage victory for British riders at the Giro d’Italia. Mark Cavendish (5) is the only other British rider who has won more than one stage in a single Giro.
• Sixth day in the lead for Simon Yates who has now half of the British Maglie Rosa (12). The USA is in sight (13). The first American leader of the Giro was Andy Hampsten in 1988; the last one Taylor Phinney in 2012.
• This is the 11th stage victory for Mitchelton-Scott since the Australian team was created in 2012 under the name of GreenEdge. It’s one more than Team Sky (10, including three by Cavendish in 2012, his only season with the British outfit) whose first participation in the Giro was in 2010. It’s the 18th Maglia Rosa for the Australian team (Svein Tuft, one day, and Michael Matthews, six, in 2014; Simon Gerrans, one, Matthews, two, and Simon Clarke, one, in 2015; Esteban Chaves, one, in 2016), while Team Sky have enjoyed just two (Bradley Wiggins in 2010 and Salvatore Puccio in 2013).

Jerseys:

• Maglia Rosa (pink), general classification leader, sponsored by Enel – Simon Yates (Mitchelton – Scott)
• Maglia Ciclamino (cyclamen), sprinter classification leader, sponsored by Segafredo – Elia Viviani (Quick-Step Floors)
• Maglia Azzurra (blue), King of the Mountains classification leader, sponsored by Banca Mediolanum – Simon Yates (Mitchelton – Scott), tomorrow worn by Esteban Chaves (Mitchelton – Scott)
• Maglia Bianca (white), young rider general classification leader, sponsored by Eurospin – Richard Carapaz (Movistar Team)