After yesterday’s early rest day, the Giro d’Italia peloton were back in action this afternoon with the first mountain test awaiting them and the finish atop Mount Etna. Rolling out from the start line in Avola, it was a punchy beginning to the day as a fierce fight to join the breakaway ensued over the lumpy terrain with Nico Denz involved in an early move that was brought back. Eventually the elastic snapped and a large group went clear, with all Team DSM riders in the peloton, where focus switched to conserving as much energy as possible for the finale.

The breakaway would be afforded a large enough gap to fight for the stage win and take over the lead of the race, while in the bunch the pace increased in intensity as they hit the foot slopes of the ascent. After some good work by the rest of the team, Chris Hamilton, Romain Bardet and Thymen Arensman were well positioned as the climb ticked by, with Hamilton doing the final bit of positioning work until five kilometres to go. From there, the pace increased another notch and the GC group thinned down but no major gaps were made as Bardet and Arensman rode strongly together. Coming into the finish Bardet claimed a nice eighth place finish on the stage, as he moves up to tenth on GC, with Arensman crossing the line in 13th.

“It was a pretty good first test for us,” explains a smiling Bardet at the finish. “I think we did a good stage together. We were in a good position with the team at the bottom of the climb. Then when we started the climb I had some really good help from the boys to keep a high position. In the end it wasn’t a big battle for the GC but everyone was really committed, we had a quite a good stage so I think it’s a good start to the Giro.”

Team DSM coach Matt Winston continued: “It was the first mountain day so everyone is always nervous and the first real test of where everyone is at and how we came into the race. I think we came through it in a really good way with Romain and Thymen finishing together in the main group. We didn’t lose any time, were sat comfortable at the finish, so I think it was a really good day for the team. It keeps us really in the GC pack and we’re looking forward to the rest of the race.”