Team Polti VisitMalta heads into the Giro rest day with its tenth breakaway and two GC places gained

Tenth breakaway for Team Polti VisitMalta in this Giro d’Italia — the third for Mattia Bais, who helped pop the cork on the stage in the heart of Prosecco area. He joined an early move from km 33 to 44, but the steep slopes of Ca’ del Poggio reshuffled the deck. As the bunch split and several Polti VisitMalta jerseys helped Bahrain bring it back together, a large breakaway of 35 riders went clear at km 70 — and Mattia was there again. He was eventually reeled in on Monte Grappa after spending almost 60 kilometers up the road. Once back in the peloton, he supported Davide Piganzoli together with Alessandro Tonelli.

Piganzoli held on with the main GC contenders on the Dori climb, where even favorites like Roglič lost contact, and finished 18th on the plateau finish behind solo winner Verona (Lidl). He now sits 15th in the GC 5:11 behind the maglia rosa — two places higher than yesterday. These were his words after the stage: “It was full gas from the start! The key today was not to lose ground, and we managed to do that. My teammates were crucial — not only Mattia’s breakaway, but everyone’s constant effort. Tomorrow we’ll recover some precious energy ahead of the decisive phase of the Giro.”

Sports Director Stefano Zanatta: “We’ve made the break in every road stage of this second week, including today’s with nearly 4000 meters of climbing and a 42 km/h average. All the guys were superb, both in the early battles and when helping Piga respond to Ineos’ moves. A strong and solid performance, a positive balance!”