Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali

Pascal Eenkhoorn went on the attacks for the second day running, this time part of a more sizable breakaway, which fought hard to remain at the front as long as possible. When the peloton began chasing hard and eating into that margin, Mauri Vansevenant took off from the group and joined the leaders, and could rely on his Soudal Quick-Step teammate to take some incredibly long pulls that helped them increase their gap to one minute.

Before the penultimate climb, Mauri rode clear and remained alone up the road before being joined by two men, who bridged across having previously attacked from the bunch. The last ten kilometers of the stage held around Brisighella saw the trio hold a lead of 25 seconds, but an injection of pace behind spelled the end of their adventure just six kilometers from home.

Soudal Quick-Step continued to remain prominent and managed to put two riders in the top ten at the finish, where Ben Tulett (Visma-Lease a Bike) prevailed after a late attack: Viktor Soenens and Thomas Pesenti. The former, who has had an impressive season so far despite being in just his second U23 year, is also our best placed rider in the general classification, where only a handful of seconds stand between him and cracking the top ten ahead of the last stage.

Photo credit: ©Dario Belingheri / Getty Images