Afonso Eulàlio kept the Maglia Rosa after Stage 11 of the Giro d’Italia, finishing safely in Chiavari after a long day from Porcari.
Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) won the stage ahead of Enric Mas (Movistar Team), with Diego Ulissi (XDS Astana Team) taking third after 195km of racing.
After yesterday’s time trial, the Giro returned to the road with a stage that started fast and became harder in the second half. A strong breakaway went clear and stayed in front as the route moved towards the Ligurian coast, where the climbs in the final part made it another day where the GC riders had to stay alert.
The hardest part came after Sestri Levante, with two short climbs before the final run into Chiavari. On a day made for attackers, the breakaway held on to decide the stage, while the GC group managed the final kilometres behind.
For the team, the focus was to keep Eulàlio safe, manage the heat, and bring him through another day in the Maglia Rosa without problems. The team stayed close to him through the key parts of the stage and helped him finish safely with the main GC group.
Narváez and Mas fought for the stage win in Chiavari, with Narváez taking victory in the final sprint. Behind them, Eulàlio came through safely and kept the Maglia Rosa for another day.
Eulalio also continues to lead the young rider classification.
Afonso Eulalio said:
“It was another hard day, especially with the heat, but the team did a perfect job. We tried to stay safe, drink a lot and stay focused until the final. Another day in pink is always important, but we have to keep going day by day. We cannot think too far ahead. We just need to stay focused and keep fighting.”
Franco Pellizotti added:
“It was a hard stage, as we expected after the rest day and the time trial. A lot of riders took yesterday almost like a rest day, so today there was a big fight from the start until the finish. The last part was probably the hardest, but also a bit easier to control.
Our guys did a very good job. The plan was to try to put Edo in the break, but he didn’t make it. In the end, we controlled the breakaway because Harper and Scaroni were the closest riders on GC, but they were around seven minutes down, so it was not too complicated to manage.
It was probably the first really warm day of the Giro. The riders asked several times for ice socks, and we had six extra feed zones during the stage. They also came back to the car a few times for bottles. It was not easy to eat and drink properly because the race was very fast, especially with solid food, but they managed the day well with liquids. From now on, we will start preparing more ice socks, because the temperatures are going up compared to the last days.”
The Maglia Rosa dream continues tomorrow on a stage that comes back for a start on the coast in Imperia and finishes in Novi Ligure.
