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Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Sunday, May 14, 2017

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2017 Tour de France | 2017 Giro d'Italia

People almost invariably arrive at their beliefs not on the basis of proof but on the basis of what they find attractive. — Blaise Pascal

Current Racing:

Latest completed racing:


Giro d'Italia stage 8 team reports

Here's what race leader Bob Jungels' Quick Step team had to say:

Bob Jungels will wear the maglia rosa for the fifth straight day, after overcoming a crash and one of the race's toughest stages.

Saturday's Giro d'Italia stage (Molfetta – Peschici, 189 kilometers) was an energy-draining one, and the signs were there right from the start, the average speed of the first hour hitting a searing 55 km/h. As a result, no one could get away, and it was only after 65 kilometers from the start that a group slipped from the bunch and opened a two-minute gap. Iljo Keisse, a stage winner at the 2015 Giro d'Italia, was there to protect Fernando Gaviria's lead in the points standings and passed first through the intermediate sprint in Manfredonia.

On the Monte Sant'Angelo climb (10 km, 6% average gradient), the break split to pieces and a new group emerged, which managed to stretch out their advantage to five minutes. In the meantime, behind, Bob Jungels crashed on a downhill with 30 kilometers to go and hurt his left knee, but despite the bleeding cut, the 24-year-old Luxembourger remounted and returned to the peloton with the help of his teammates.

At that moment, Valerio Conti (UAE Team Emirates) was virtual leader of the overall standings, but Quick-Step Floors quickly took the reins in the pack and the gap began to tumble fast before the 20-kilometer to go mark. The team's furious pace meant that Bob was back in control of the general classification, but stage 8 continued to be a frantic one and to produce further action, as Mikel Landa (Team Sky) decided to try his luck inside the last 15 kilometers. His attack stirred things up for a while, but in the end it was to no avail, as the Spaniard was caught by the chasers.

Another Spaniard, Gorka Izagirre (Movistar) took the spoils on Saturday from the original breakaway, ahead of Giovanni Visconti (Bahrain-Merida) and Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana), but the peloton wasn't too far behind, crossing the line 12 seconds later. Despite the crash, Jungels was right up there and finished the day in 10th place, retaining the iconic pink jersey.

Bob, who jumped to the top of the general classification after the Mount Etna stage, took us through this complicated stage, at the end of which he donned the maglia rosa for the eighth time in his career.

Bob Jungels

Bob Jungels gets another maglia rosa

"The crash was my fault, because I didn't pay attention in the downhill, touched the back wheel of a teammate and went down. Fortunately, it wasn't bad and at the moment I don't have too much pain, but we have to wait until tomorrow to see how I will feel. Today's stage was very complicated and nervous, as everyone seemed to want to be in the breakaway, but we stayed calm and took back time in the final 30 kilometers, following a great ride of my teammates, to whom I want to say a big thank you", Jungels explained at the press conference.

"This year's stint in the maglia rosa is different from the one of 2016. I took over the lead much earlier than last year and the gaps are much smaller now, but thanks to the effort of this fantastic team I managed to keep it for five consecutive days. Tomorrow, we have the first important test of the race so far, I'd say even more important than Etna, because everything was tactical there due to the strong winds. I expect a very hard final, as many riders will want to gain time before Tuesday's time trial", concluded Bob ahead of stage 9, which will take the riders to Blockhaus (8.4% over 13.6 km), a climb that was last visited by the Giro d'Italia peloton eight years ago.

UAE Team Emirates sent me this:

The curtain was drawn on a dramatic eighth stage of the 100th Giro d’Italia on Saturday, 13 May with Valerio Conti crashing 900 metres away from the finish line taking him out of first position. UAE Team Emirates continues to rank first in Teams Classification and Jan Polanc successfully defending the Maglia Azzura for the fourth stage in a row. The 189km eighth stage through Puglia in southeast Italy was won by Gorka Izagirre (Movistar) after UAE Team Emirates rider Conti crashed on a tight corner close to the finish line.

A disheartened Conti commented, “It’s a shame. I made a mistake and I’m so sorry. I believed in the victory. Maybe I exaggerated a bit in the turn pedalling too much. Maybe I had too much adrenaline in order to get through the final few metres. I fell still attached to the pedal and lost time. I did a perfect stage in the finale the strongest breakaway riders remained in front and we were ready to fight in order to win the stage. The only thing I can say is I was feeling good and believed in the stage victory. Now I’m really sorry and disappointed. I hope there will be another occasion because I am in good shape.”

Tomorrow’s stage nine starts in Montenero di Bisaccia and is known to shakeup the overall classification. While Mount Etna was the first mountain finish of the 100th Giro d’Italia, stage nine to Blockhaus is the first brutal finish. The 152km stage is short and mostly flat but ends with the 13.6km climb to the finish line, with an gradient of 8.4 % and peak of 14%, for the final 10km.

And Luis Leon Sanchez's Astana team had this to report:

“It has been a very fast and chaotic start today – explained Sanchez – I wanted to enter in the break and I’ve tried several times, then when the group of 13 men took an advantage, we worked very hard as a Team to reduce that gap and I jumped in the break with other 2 men… I saw that the bunch didn’t gave has much space and I've increased the rhythm on the first climb, remaining alone.”

“Then I saw that 4 strong guys were following me and I waited for them – continued the Spaniard – and in the final two of them had something more than me to spend: I did my best and I’m sorry not to have been able to win of course… on the other hand, I’ve found out today that my condition is growing so I’m really positive for the next two weeks of race. I’ll try again for sure!”

Luis Leon Sanchez

Luis Leon Sanchez finishes stage eight

The Spaniard Gorka Izaguirre is the winner of the stage 8 of the Giro 100. Nothing has change in the GC, with Bob Jungels in Maglia Rosa and our Tanel Kangert 18th and Dario Cataldo 20th.

The ninth stage of the Corsa Rosa will be one of the most expected: Montenero di Bisaccia - Blockhaus with the severe uphill final where the strongest climbers should make some important actions.

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