Piankavallo (Italy), Oct. 18, LETA – AFP. British cyclist Teo Geigen-Hart won on Sunday in the 15th stage of the prestigious multi-day cycling race “Giro d’Italia”, after which the leading Portuguese Joao Almeida prevailed in the overall standings.
On Sunday, the cyclists covered a distance of 185 kilometers, in which they first had to overcome three climbs of the second category, but at the finish – a climb of the first category. The last 15 kilometers led up Mount Piankavallo, the first ten kilometers by 9% steep climbs, and the rest by 14% steep climbs.
Australian Roens Dennis (“Ineos Grenadiers”) was the first to conquer the last ascent, but his strength quickly waned. Eight kilometers before the finish line-up, the group of leading athletes consisted of ten athletes, with a large amount of work being done for his teammates Chris Hamilton and Jay Hindley on behalf of Dutchman Wolf Kelderman (“Sunweb”). Almeida (“Deceuninck – Quick Step”) was assisted by the Italian Fausto Masnada.
For the last five kilometers, he was led by a troika with Geigen-Hart (“Ineos Grenadiers”), Kelderman and Hindlie, but a little further was Almeida. The British had more strength at the finish, finishing the distance in five hours, 58 minutes and 52 seconds.
Two seconds later, Kelderman finished behind him, finishing six bonus seconds in second place, followed by Hindley. 35 seconds behind Kelderman, Almeida finished in fourth place.
Almeida lost almost a minute to his home favorite Vincenzo Nibali (“Trek-Segafredo”), who also lost one of his “weapon carriers”, Julio Chikoni, before the stage. His teammate and compatriot does not continue the tour because he has had bronchitis.
On Monday, cyclists will have a holiday, but the last week of the race in the leader’s pink shirt will be welcomed by Almeida, whose dominance over his closest follower Kelderman has shrunk to 15 seconds. The Australian Hindlie followed with a two-minute and 56-second deficit.
The first four stages of the Italian tour were to take place in the vicinity of Budapest, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Hungary refused to accept the stages that took place in Sicily. Also, due to the pandemic, the tour was postponed from May to October.
This year, none of the Latvians will start the “Giro d’Italia”, but last year Krists Neilands took part in the competition.
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