2023 Giro d’Italia: Stage 11 Results

Pascal Ackermann of the UAE Team Emirates squad bested Jonathan Milan (Bahrain Victorious) to win Stage 11 of the 2023 Giro d’Italia. Ackermann takes his 39th professional victory and 39th Giro stage win for Germany. Geraint Thomas (INEOS Grenadiers) maintains the maglia rosa.

At 219 km, today’s Camaiore-Tortona stage was the longest stage of the 2023 race and, despite 3 KOM challenges, represents an opportunity for sprinters.

The peloton, 142 riders strong, crossed the KM0 at 11.50. COVID continued to tear at the race, with Mattia Cattaneo, Josef Cerny, Jan Hirt, Louis Vervaeke (all Soudal Quick-Step), Andrea Vendrame (AG2R Citroën Team), Jonathan Klever Caicedo (Ef Education-EasyPost), Stefano Gandin (Corratec Selle Italia), and Natnael Tesfatsion (Trek – Segafredo) all dropping out of the race overnight.

It was another cool and rainy day, with temperatures not expected much higher than the mid 60s.

Just 12km into the race and there was another breakaway. Thomas Champion (Cofidis), Diego Pablo Sevilla (Eolo-Kometa), Filippo Magli (Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè), Laurenz Rex (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), Alexander Konychev, and Veljko Stojnić (Team Corratec-Selle Italia) made the move today.

Unlike yesterday’s stage, the peloton was not giving the group of six much leash today. They never had more than a three minute gap over the maglia rosa group, and with 52km remaining, the gap was down to 1’43”.

A crash in the peloton managed to take down maglia rosa Geraint Thomas and some other race leaders. Unfortunately, Tao Geoghan Hart suffered enough injury that he had to drop out of the race.

30km remaining and the leaders had just one minute over the peloton. Trek – Segafredo was at the front with Movistar helping as well. The breakaway was down to Rex, Stojnić, and Champion.

18km to go and the gap dropped to 22″. Champion couldn’t keep up the pace and dropped back to the peloton.

And then it was Laurenz Rex all alone with the peloton breathing down his neck. He held out until the 5km flag before sitting up for the catch.

Then it was down to the sprint teams.

Charles Quartermann made an (ill advised) go for the win with about 3km remaining before the sprint started in earnest.

It came down to a photo finish between Ackermann and Jonathan Milan.

Speaking in the press conference, the stage winner Pascal Ackermann said: “It took me a while to be back to the big races. I’ve been waiting for the three years to my next Grand Tour stage win. I’ve worked very hard this year to get it again. I’m super happy to show that I’m still able to win big races, especially after my broken coccyx last year. I was three months away from racing. I’m glad that I’ve finally won another race. It was very important for me personally to win again. These past few days I got no support from the team because they had to take care of the GC riders. Today I got help and they did an amazing job. I’m super happy that Ryan [Gibbons] took me in perfect position. I hope to get the same support again in the next sprint stage. It was tight but I immediately knew that I won. All my family was here today, so it adds to my happiness to win. I already wanted to win yesterday but we didn’t catch the breakaway.”

The Maglia Rosa Geraint Thomas said: “It’s a bit of a shock to lose Tao [Geoghegan Hart]. It was a big blow when he heard that he abandoned and Pavel [Sivakov] is a bit banged up. The Giro is never straightforward. Yesterday, I was saying how many strong guys we were in the team and a lot has changed today. It’s cycling. We have to adapt, stay positive and move forward. I couldn’t avoid [Alessandro Covi] but fortunately I landed on him. I definitely don’t blame him. He didn’t want to create that crash but the riders first, second and third on GC were right behind him. The Giro was a dream for our team up to this point. It’s disappointing but we are still in it.”

Stage 11 Brief Results:

1. Pascal Ackermann (UAE Team Emirates) in 5h09’02”
2. Jonathan Milan (Bahrain Victorious) s.t.
3. Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) s.t.
4. Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) s.t.
5. Stefano Oldani (Alpecin-Deceuninck) s.t.
6. Vincenzo Albanese (Eolo-Kometa) s.t.
7. Marius Mayrhofer (Team DSM) s.t.
8. Davide Ballerini (Soudal-QuickStep) s.t.
9. Simone Consonni (Cofidis) s.t.
10. Arne Marit (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) s.t.

General Classification After Stage 11:

1. Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers)
2. Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) at 2″
3. João Pedro Gonçalves Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) at 22″

Jerseys:

• Maglia Rosa, leader of the General Classification, sponsored by Enel – Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers)
• Maglia Ciclamino, leader of the Points Classification, sponsored by Agenzia ICE with the brand Madeinitaly.gov.it – Jonathan Milan (Bahrain – Victorious)
• Maglia Azzurra, leader of the Gran Premio della Montagna, sponsored by Banca Mediolanum – Davide Bais (Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team)
• Maglia Bianca, Best Young Rider, sponsored by Intimissimi Uomo – João Pedro Gonçalves Almeida (UAE Team Emirates)