Giro d’Italia stage 11: Ewan sprints to second stage win

Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) claimed his second stage win of the 2019 Giro d’Italia in Novi Ligure Wednesday.

The Australian beat Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ) and Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) in a bunch sprint at the end of the 221km stage.

Elia Viviani (Deceuninck-Quick Step), the one big name sprinter in this year’s race not yet to have won a stage, finished in fourth place. The Italian champion, who had hoped to make amends in what was the hometown of great Italian cycling legends Fausto Coppi and Costantino Girardengo, didn’t have the speed in a relatively uncomplicated gallop.

Racing into a cross headwind on a 3km finish straight, Ewan played his cards perfectly. Put onto Ackermann’s wheel by his team, he had to jostle little for position and then was gifted a leadout by the German.

“That just made my run a whole lot easier,” explained Ewan. “Ackermann went quite early, so I could really just sit there and time my sprint to perfection.”

Ewan, who is expected to withdraw from the Giro in the coming days to focus on the Tour de France, said he also benefitted from having the stage 8 victory under his belt.

“I think I was a bit more relaxed coming into this stage because I already had my one win. When you’re more relaxed, you save a bit more energy and everything seems to fall into place easier.

“This is the most successful grand tour I’ve ever done,” he added. “I think it shows my progression as a rider.”

Another long haul up the Po Valley, starting in Capri, it was a simple, flat stage, that largely stuck to just a couple of major roads.

Riders from the usual teams made the break, with Marco Frapporti (Adroni Giocattoli-Sidermec), Mirco Maestri (Bardiani-CSF) and Damiano Cima (Nippo-Vini Fantini) all regulars in gaining TV exposure.

As was the case on stage 10, the break went as soon as the flag dropped. It maximised its lead at six minutes in the first 20km and thereafter was slowly reeled back by a steady-riding bunch.

Cima kept up his lead in the intermediate sprint competition by taking the first of them with 70km to go. Behind, Arnaud Demare and Pascal Ackermann’s rivalry hotted up as they contested  fourth place in a battle for the points jersey.

Demare got the better of Ackerman in this little skirmish, with the points difference compounded by the latter’s team mate, Rudiger Selig, mistakenly coming between them. This was enough to move Demare into the lead, a position he strengthened in the stage finishing order.

At the second sprint with just 30km to go, Cima sat on the back as Maestri led through. The bunch passed through in a similarly passive manner – the finish looming too close.

The break was eventually caught with around 20km of the long stage remaining, although the bunch continued to procession in side-by-side team trains until Christian Knees (Ineos) took a flyer at 4km to go.

Quickly recaptured, it was CCC who led through the final turn with 3km remaining. Dimension Data nudged up to lead for a bit before Groupama-FDJ took over. Then Ackerman’s team led-out.

Playing things patiently behind, it all worked in Ewan’s favor. Meanwhile, Valerio Conti had an untroubled day to retain his pink jersey.