Adverse weather conditions forced the organisers of the Giro to alter today's stage. The race began with a delayed start in Lasa and concluded after approximately 120km as originally planned with the final climb to Santa Cristina in Gröden. Pogačar attacked 1500 metres ahead of the finish, breaking up the leading group. Dani Martínez responded quickly to Pogačar's attack. Initially, he managed to stay close to the Slovenian, but as the gradient increased and the pace quickened, Dani struggled to keep his wheel. In the finale, the Colombian attacked once more but was overtaken by Giulio Pellizzarri just before the finish line. With his strong third place on the rainy stage, he moved back up to second place in the general classification.
Result
Dani Martínez:
The stage directly after a rest day can be a tricky one, especially with a hard parcours like today. It was a cold day in the saddle for sure, and I think a lot of guys found it tough going. Despite the conditions, I felt good in the reduced GC group, and I’m really pleased with how I performed. I was able to make up time on Thomas and move back into second in the GC again. I also want to say thanks to my teammates and also staff for the support today, it was a challenging day, so thank you and chapeau. There are still some tough stages to come, but we're in a good position heading forward.
Enrico Gasparotto, Sports Director:
Today was a challenging day at the start, as we weren't sure how exactly the stage would proceed. It was snowing on the climb, and then it started snowing in Livigno as well. So then the race organiser decided to cancel the first climbs of the day, and start in Lasa. So the first part of the stage was flat, with a final mountaintop finish. With this profile, we knew Dani could do well, as it was a very steep finale. We tried to motivate the riders to give a good performance, and Dani did a great job. He confirmed once again that on mountaintop finishes (including Oropa, Prati di Tivo, Mottolino), we are always right up there. Rome is still a long way away, but these performances give us a lot of confidence.