Slovak cyclist Peter Sagan triumphed in Monday’s 10th stage of the 104th Giro d’Italia and dressed in a cyclamen jersey for the leader of the scoring competition. The Bora-Hansgrohe stable driver had the strongest legs in the final spurt of the 139 km long route from L’Aquila to Foligno.
19:10 – Added by other reactions of Petr Sagan and Ján Valach.
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In a TV interview for the Italian organizers, he also addressed the fans in Slovak: “Thank you for watching, the whole team for leading a great robot and I’m glad I was able to win. We’ll see how it goes.”
For the 31-year-old Slovak, this is the second victory on the Gire, the third in the season and the 117th in his career. In the first place he scored 50 points in the competition for a cyclamen jersey, he has 108 in total and is the first. Gaviria and Cimolai both lose 17 points.
VIDEO: Petr Sagan’s winning finish in the 10th stage of the Giro d’Italia:
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“Today was a very good day for us. Compared to the previous stages, I was a little happier. I also had good legs, but I didn’t always have a good position, in that last run I almost ended up on the ground, which fortunately didn’t happen. We’ll see how it goes and whether I can get a cyclamen jersey, “Sagan continued.
“On this challenging day, everyone on our team did their best. We managed to leave a few purebred sprinters behind, but a few still remained ahead until the end of the stage.
When driving at a high pace all day, it’s easier for me in the end. However, if the first 150 km is easier, it is more difficult for me to beat the typical sprinters at the end, if the fight for victory narrows to the last 30 km. I am wearing a cyclamen jersey for the first time, but the Giro is still long. We’re only halfway through it, “Sagan added to the bora-hansgrohe.com team website.
“We knew we had a chance to win today. It was a stage for sprinters, but different from the previous ones, because it was unusually short and, moreover, a day ago. It was therefore difficult to control its progress. Our first goal was to ensure that only a small group of competitors escaped, which is what happened.
We knew we would have to work on catching up with the group along with other sprint teams. Four or five teams also took part. We realized that they are counting on it to be a mass sprint in the end. Rather, we wanted to make it a little more challenging, especially on the climbs.
That’s why we were interested in ‘evaporating’ a few sprinters so that such a large group would not reach the finish line. We have succeeded and every member of our team is responsible for that. They made an enormous effort to get Peter forward to the final kilometer. He then showed a great sprint and we achieved a beautiful victory as a team, “said Bora-Hansgrohe sports director Ján Valach.