Mirco Maestri: sixth and … a bit unlucky

And at the end came another Top 10: this time it’s Mirco Maestri, good at throwing himself into the Salerno sprint and arriving sixth in a group restricted by the many falls experienced in the last kilometers of a stage made of rain and slips. So many falls that unfortunately did not spare our own Mirco, who immediately after the finish line was run over by another rider and violently hit his left elbow: taken to the hospital he was given stitches, and tomorrow he will be regularly at the start of the stage.

In the end Kaden Groves (Alpecin) won ahead of Jonathan Milan (Bahrain Victorious) and Mads Pedersen (Trek Segafredo), on a day that saw a breakaway of three riders (Gandin, Champion and Zoccarato) go away after 7 kilometers: Behind the peloton controlled, with the scare due to a dog that ended up on the course causing Evenepoel and Ballerini (who immediately re-entered the race) to fall, and with the passage to the GPM of Oliveto Citra where Albanese was welcomed as a hero by the town where he was born. With 6 km to go, the last survivor of the breakaway – Zoccarato – was caught by the peloton, which prepared for the expected sprint that was, however, anticipated by two illustrious falls: first Roglic and then, with 3 km to go, Evenepoel ended up on the asphalt. Then, the sprint: in the morning meeting it had been decided to bet on Maestri, and Sevilla first and Albanese then were splendid in guiding their companion, protecting him from the falls. Well the final result, too bad for that fall a few meters after the finish.

Mirco Maestri: “The stage was relatively quiet, given the weather the teams controlled. In the final Albanese was superlative, he accompanied me until 3 kilometers from the finish and protected me: I jumped into the sprint and did everything to hit a top 10 that especially here at the Giro is not an easy thing. Too bad then for that fall right after the finish, I’m sorry: now let’s fix the wounds and…tomorrow is another day!”

Stefano Zanatta: “Stage pelted by rain from start to finish, but the guys were always very careful to cover themselves and dress in the right way. Maestri, Albanese and Sevilla were great to avoid all the dangers and falls and bring Maestri to the sprint: unfortunately there was this fall after the finish, but tomorrow he will be at the start regularly. Let’s keep it up.”