After the last rest day, the final decisive week of the Giro started with a tough mountain stage. Following the start in Sabbio Chiese, the 203km long route led flat along Lake Garda for the first 60km. On the following 140 km, more than 5000m of elevation gain were spread over five climbs until the peloton reached the mountain finish at Monte Bondone. Before the first climb, Cesare Benedetti and Patrick Konrad successfully fought their way to the leading group in a chase group, which had already gained a small advantage by this time. When two riders went clear from the breakaway before the summit of the second climb, the Polish BORA - hansgrohe rider chased after the leading duo solo, but eventually fell back. On the penultimate climb, the first chasing group including Patrick caught the two leaders, while at the back of the decimated peloton with Lennard Kämna, Jumbo - Visma took over the pace. On the final climb, the lead group with Patrick was still 3:30 minutes ahead, but a little later the group disintegrated and its advantage over the peloton shrank quickly. Patrick Konrad fought in the group of remaining riders, but the GC favourites were close on their heels and caught them with 10 km to go. Over the final kilometres, the GC favourites exchanged blows, while the group with Lennard was over a minute behind. With J. Almeida winning the two-man sprint, Lennard Kämna finished 11th as the best BORA - hansgrohe rider and is now in 6th place in the general classification.
Result
01 J. Almeida 5:53:27
02 G. Thomas +0:00
03 P. Roglič +0:25
11 L. Kämna +1:20
From the Finish Line
"We hoped that the leading group would come through but nobody really wanted to show commitment. In such a situation I wasn't able to invest everything. Unfortunately, we were caught at an inopportune moment before the climb and although I tried everything to fight my way through, it just didn't work out in the end. I will try something again on the next mountain stage, otherwise I will give Lenni my full support. Now we'll see what else is possible in the coming days." - Patrick Konrad
"The day was actually quite alright. But when the others pushed the pace, I somewhat rashly went to the front and accelerated because I wanted to try to keep the time loss within limits. But then the others attacked and it didn't work out the way I wanted it to. Still, I can be pretty pleased with the day." - Lennard Kämna
"It was a tough mountain finish. We wanted to send Koni into the break so he could race for a stage win. Cece was also at the front, which was of course special for him because the stage went through his birthplace, it was a once in a life time experience. In the end, Paret-Peintre had a very good position in the overall classification and so did Jack Haig and so Jumbo-Visma took control and so it was not possible for us to fight with Koni for the stage win. In the reduced field, Lenni rode quite conservatively because he wasn't 100% in the last few days. I think everyone did a good job and I'm quite proud of the performance of our guys." - Enrico Gasparotto, Sports Director