Very long day at the Giro d’Italia, Lonardi 5th in the Naples sprint

After claiming every combativity prize on offer so far (2 for Alessandro Tonelli and 1 each for Fran Muñoz and Davide Bais) today Team Polti VisitMalta approached the longest stage of the Giro d’Italia — from the capital of Basilicata to that of Campania — with the goal of staying in the peloton to support their sprinter. Mission accomplished: almost nobody were caught in the nasty crash on a wet descent in Irpinia, which led to the neutralisation of 10 kilometres and all of the day’s timings. Only Davide Piganzoli went down, but he came out unscathed and was well supported by Mattia Bais and other teammates. Andrea Pietrobon helped Alpecin and Visma chase down the two surviving attackers with 2500 metres to go, Mirco Maestri shut down every late attack, and Giovanni Lonardi placed 5th in the sprint won by Groves. It’s the team’s second top-10 (after Piganzoli’s on day one) and first top-5 of this Giro.

Lonardi: “What happened between 70 and 60 km from the finish caused most of the peloton to ease off early, so we ended up with a reduced sprint rather than a bunch one. We delivered a great effort, winning is never easy here but we’ll keep working toward that!”

Sports Director Stefano Zanatta: “Today we left the battle for the breakaway to other squads, our guys stayed sharp and their commitment was rewarded with a good result. We’ve confirmed we’re in great shape heading into tomorrow’s first summit finish in Abruzzo.”