On a stage which had the breakaway in the spotlight, the Luxembourger finished safely in the pack, after being protected by the team throughout the entire day.
Bob Jungels continues to enjoy life in pink at the Giro d'Italia, as he successfully defended the coveted jersey for another day, one which took the peloton from Reggio Calabria to Terme Luigiane, over a 217km-long course peppered with two small classified climbs. Once the breakaway was formed minutes after the start, Quick-Step Floors assembled itself around the 24-year-old, keeping him out of the wind which at one point threatened to impact the stage.
Fernando Gaviria, who pulled on the maglia ciclamino following his emphatic win on stage 5, was among the ones setting the pace in the bunch, together with the likes of Eros Capecchi, Dries Devenyns or Iljo Keisse, as the five-man breakaway went all the way to the line, where Silvan Dillier (BMC) beat Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) in an uphill sprint.
The peloton arrived together 39 seconds behind the escapees, despite some late charges of several riders, and Bob Jungels crossed the line in eighth place, for his third top-10 stage finish at the 100th Giro d'Italia, helding onto the six-second lead for another day and matching his performance at the 2016 Corsa Rosa, when he was in control of the general classification for three consecutive days.
"Having a breakaway with no rider posing any danger to the general classification was the perfect situation for us. We were hoping the escape will go all the way, so that they mop up the bonus seconds. In the peloton, all I had to do was keep a close eye on my opponents in the closing kilometers, which worked out well. So far, it's been a great race for us, we have pink, white and ciclamino, and we'll continue enjoying these moments", explained Bob Jungels in Terme Luigiane.
Until when can he hold the maglia rosa? The Luxembourger answered to this question at the post-stage press conference: "As I've already said, I hope to keep the maglia rosa until Sunday, when we'll arrive on Blockhaus. We'll see there how I'll cope with the climb, but the good things is that two days later the Giro schedules an ITT, where I will have an opportunity to gain time on the climbers."
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele
