Santiago Buitrago won the queen stage of the 106th Giro d’Italia from Longarone to Tre Cime di Lavaredo!
The 23-year-old professional cyclist from Colombia prevailed on Friday after 183 kilometers and 5,300 meters in altitude from a breakaway group. Meanwhile, Geraint Thomas had no trouble defending his pink leader’s jersey. The Welshman leads ahead of Saturday’s crucial mountain time trial by 26 seconds over Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic. Austria’s Patrick Konrad was in a breakaway group for a long time, but fell back in the finish, finished the stage in 19th place (+3:20 min.) and is 20th overall. (+ 32:03). “Today I wanted to try to get into the leading group, which I finally managed to do. The plan was then either to ride a stage result or to be there for Lenni (team captain Lennard Kämna, note) in the last part. And when Lenni was alone in the Maglia Rosa group, I waited for him and tried to keep up the pace for the last one-and-a-half kilometers,” explained Konrad. Former Tour de France winner Thomas fought back in the extremely difficult one Climbing up to the Three Peaks from all attacks. He reached the finish line at 2,304 meters in fifth place, three seconds behind his rival Primoz Roglic. As third overall, João Almeida can still count on small chances. The Portuguese, who lost almost half a minute to Roglic on Friday, is 59 seconds behind Thomas in the overall standings brought down Verona. Verona was apparently touched on the rear wheel, but was able to continue the stage in the breakaway group. As the Italian TV broadcaster RAI reported, the car was excluded from the race. On Saturday, there are only 18.6 kilometers of time trials, but the final climb to Monte Lussari is tough. An average gradient of 11.2 percent awaits you over 7.8 kilometers. Comparing the time trials of the recent past, the advantages are on the side of Roglic, the 2021 Olympic champion in this discipline. In 2020, however, the three-time Vuelta winner lost the leader’s jersey to his compatriot Tadej Pogacar on the penultimate day of the Tour de France. On Sunday, the final stage, starting and finishing in Rome, should be a matter for the sprinters. The result of the 19th stage: 1. Santiago Buitrago (COL) Bahrain Victorious 5:28:07 hrs2. Derek Gee (CAN) Israel-Premier Tech +51 sec3. Magnus Cort Nielsen (DEN) EF Education-EasyPost +1:46 min.4. Primoz Roglic (SLO) Jumbo Visma5. Geraint Thomas (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers +1:496. Joao Almeida (POR) UAE Team Emirates +2:09Next:19. Patrick Konrad (AUT) Bora +3:2094. Lukas Pöstlberger (AUT) Jayco +33:50 The standings in the overall standings:1. Geraint Thomas (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers 81:55:47 hrs2. Primoz Roglic (SLO) Jumbo Visma +26 sec3. Joao Almeida (POR) UAE Team Emirates +59Next:20. Patrick Konrad (AUT) Bora +32:03 min.95. Lukas Pöstlberger (AUT) Jayco +3:55:58
