Team DSM and Alberto Dainese power to Giro d’Italia sprint win

After nearly abandoning the race on Sunday due to sickness and pushing through to be the last rider to pass the line solo in 43 minutes behind the stage winner, Team DSM’s Alberto Dainese powered to an extra special sprint win on his home stage in Caorle today.

Team DSM rode perfectly throughout the day to help control the early breakaway, then set up finisher Alberto Dainese for the finale who duly delivered with a monstrous sprint to secure the win on stage 17 at the Giro d’Italia.

From the beginning of the stage Team DSM were ever present at the front of the bunch, controlling the tempo and staying out of trouble on the Italian roads. Coming into the closing 20 kilometres the break was caught and the team worked superbly to stay at the front of the race. Charging under the flamme rouge the boys in black dropped Dainese off expertly, who used his nous to wait a few seconds before launching his sprint, surging past the competition to take Team DSM’s first Grand Tour win of the season.

Speaking after the stage a jubilant Dainese said: “I really appreciated the commitment from the team, they really believed in me. They said to me this morning ‘you can win a stage, it’s a good opportunity.’ Even though I wasn’t feeling 100 percent, they still told me it was possible. It’s more special than the last year for sure. Last year was a bit out of luck, this year it was the end of a process and work with the team and lead out, so it feels much more special. The last week was not easy, for me personally too with some problems, but we still believed in it and each other, and said that today was a good chance to win a stage here.”

Team DSM coach Matt Winston added: “It was a really good for the team. We wanted a bunch sprint from the outset but it was never really guaranteed, so we rode on the front with Jonas to make sure it was a sprint finish. The guys did a good lead out. Real credit to Marius and Niklas for the job they did in the final, and it was really nice to see Alberto finish it off. It was some great teamwork all round and we all can be proud of this victory.”