Our team was prominent again at the Corsa Rosa.
Pompei hosted the start of stage ten, which marked the beginning of the second week, and after a couple of riders – including two-time Belgian Champion Tim Merlier – made a visit to the famous Amphitheatre where Pink Floyd held a private concert in 1972 – the race finally got underway, opening the way to numerous breakaway attempts.
It took more than 60 kilometers of crazy fast racing for a group to snap the elastic and build a nice lead over the peloton, as many teams were interested in joining this move knowing that it had a solid chance of making it. Once the front group formed, around 30 riders found themselves there, including Soudal Quick-Step’s Julian Alaphilippe and Mauri Vansevenant. For Alaphilippe, this was his fourth breakaway presence in nine road stages, a testament to his fantastic fighting spirit and desire to animate the race which he loves so much.
The dynamic duo helped the breakaway take their advantage to a maximum of six minutes, which put the group in the driving seat for the stage victory, especially as the peloton decided to have a calm day at the office. Alaphilippe and Vansevenant remained there until the final 40 kilometers, when a new series of skirmishes as the road began to go up fragmented the breakaway.
From there, Valentin Paret-Peintre (Decathlon AG2R) soloed to victory, while the favourites came home a couple of minutes later. Jan Hirt was there, after another solid outing on this third summit finish of the race, and concluded together with the GC contenders on Bocca della Selva, remaining Soudal Quick-Step’s best placed rider in the overall ranking.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images
