Andreas Leknessund defends Maglia Rosa for Team DSM at Giro d’Italia summit finish

Andreas Leknessund defends Maglia Rosa for Team DSM after a strong race from the whole team at stage 7 of the Giro d’Italia.

After two sprints in the last days, a long day with a summit finish awaited the riders. With four riders going clear quickly, the team took the initiative straight away and controlled the gap to the breakaway throughout the whole day. Every rider did their turn to protect the GC lead and be in position for the long climb and a potential fight of the favourites. But the peloton took on the final climb in a moderate pace and the team kept being present in the front rows throughout the whole finale. While the breakaway took the stage victory, Andreas finished safely in the peloton and kept the lead in the general classification as a reward for the strong teamwork today.

Speaking after the stage Leknessund said: “We expected the race to be a bit harder but with the break going away and the strong work of the team, it was quite perfect. The last kilometres got a little bit harder, but until that, we were in full control of what was happening. Now I am looking forward to another day in the pink jersey tomorrow.”

Team DSM Coach Matt Winston added: “The goal was to control the breakaway and let them fight out the win whilst we were looking after the pink jersey. We had to keep managing the time gap to prevent any GC rider from going for the stage win and putting us under pressure. The guys did a really good job and rode more than 200 kilometres in front of the peloton. It was really nice to see Andreas holding the jersey for another day, so we are really happy with today.”