After yesterday’s reduced bunch sprint for the peloton after a day in the hills, it was a case of déjà-vu today with a very similar parcours to contend with. As the peloton rolled out of Torre del Greco the attacks flew, and despite some riders managing to get a small gap, no concrete breakaway was able to form.
As a result, it was all together as the bunch hit the climbs and an infernal pace was set at the front. Like yesterday, it became a race of attrition with riders dropped, and more attacks flew from the group. The team were incredibly active, infiltrating any dangerous breakaways but things ultimately came back together as the peloton charged towards the finish line.
In a repeat of yesterday’s finale, it was a fast and frenetic finish with the team doing a strong lead out and Coryn Rivera producing a good turn of speed to end the day in a fine 4th place.
“It felt like a much harder today than yesterday with more back-t0-back climbing, but five of us could survive it really well,” explained Rivera at the finish. “It was almost the perfect lead out with one kilometre to go. We unfortunately lost Alison in the last few hundred metres. Floortje had to do a big job for the lead out so I had to open up my sprint a little early and ran out of steam at the end. I was able to get a good sprint out today again, and a big thanks to the girls and the team and the staff for that. It was still a good day of teamwork, although not the result we were looking for.”
Team Sunweb coach Albert Timmer continued: “There were a lot of attacks throughout the stage! All of the girls, except for Coryn who we wanted to save for the sprint, were active at the front. Then afterwards it exploded on the climbs, and we rode well to still have five riders in the front group. We had a good plan for the finish, but Alison misjudged the final corner a little bit so Coryn had no final lead out rider in front of her anymore. In the end though, we once again showed some good teamwork today and will keep fighting.”