The 22-year-old took his 16th distinctive jersey at this edition.
Paul Magnier returned at the top of the points classification just ahead of the final rest day after emerging as the fastest from the peloton, just a few seconds behind the successful breakaway, on stage 15 of the Giro d’Italia.
Milano, the home of Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece The Last Supper and the place where Iljo Keisse took a memorable victory for the Wolfpack 11 years ago, became Sunday afternoon the first city to host 90 stage finishes at the Corsa Rosa. It happened at the end of the second-fastest stage in the history of the Giro, which saw the peloton average 51.06km/h.
Soudal Quick-Step was one of the many teams to control the two-minute gap of the four riders in the leading group, but despite that effort, the attackers held off the field for just a few seconds and the stage concluded with the victory of Fredrik Dversnes (Uno -X Mobility).
“It’s a bit disappointing that we couldn’t fight for victory despite the huge amount of work we put in. It was fast the entire stage and our team gave everything behind, but the final circuit favoured the attackers a bit as it was really technical. It’s difficult to say now what happened and how come the bunch didn’t catch the escapees despite going so fast in the last 20 kilometers. On the bright side, I have the cyclamen jersey again and I’ll fight to keep it”, Paul said before the podium ceremony.
Photo credit: ©Dario Belingheri / Getty Images
