Photo Credit: Cor Vos

Today saw the peloton take on the longest stage of the race, with 219 kilometres on the menu from Monticiano to Gualdo Tadino and a long, dragging uphill finish. Almost from the flag drop a breakaway was able to establish itself at the head of the race, with all Team DSM riders in the bunch.

The peloton always appeared to be in control and kept the gap steady, but with around 60 kilometres to go the bunch sat up somewhat and the gap expanded to six minutes. As a result, it caused a fast chase to reel in those ahead with the break finally caught at three kilometres to go. The team worked well to move forward as a unit, with two goals in mind; keeping Romain Bardet safe and set up Max Kanter for the finish.

On the long drag to the line, the pace continued to increase with Kanter giving it his all and digging deep in an attempt to contest the reduced sprint finish. Unfortunately, he lost contact with the front of the group as the stinging tempo was set but still continued to ride well and show guts by finishing in the reduced peloton of 50 alongside Bardet, who stayed safely within the group and held onto his GC place.

“It was a long and hard day out on the bike today, which basically had a bit of everything in it,” explained road captain Nikias Arndt. “We had a lot of altitude metres, especially in the beginning of the stage and there were also some side winds which caused some echelons. At the end I think we managed well to bring Max into a good position for the final but unfortunately he didn’t have the legs to go for a top result. Our second goal was to also make sure that Romain was there and didn’t lose time, which we succeeded at. It was a good team effort today on a hard stage. Unfortunately, no day result but we showed nice teamwork to bring Romain and Max into the finale in a solid position.”

Team DSM coach Matt Winston added: “Today we had the longest stage of the race over a rolling parcours. Coming into the finish it was a bit chaotic in the fight for the front of the peloton but we took up a good position on the right side of the road to protect Max and Romain. Going onto the final climb Max gave it his best but just didn’t have the legs to compete for a top result. Romain was up there and sprinted in for us, keeping ahold of his GC position. We’re pleased by the commitment and teamwork the guys showed today; we’ll keep working on it and give it another go tomorrow.”