Alberto Dainese (Team DSM) caused a boilover on Stage 11 of the Giro d’Italia as the Italian sprinter claimed his team’s and his nation’s first win of the race.
The Italians had yet to register a win at their home Grand Tour but that run came to an end in the unlikely form of Dainese. The 24-year-old’s last win was in Australia in 2020 at the Herald Sun Tour, but he has been consistently around the mark since then without taking a breakthrough victory.
That changed on the flat finish into Reggio Emilia where he finished the 203 kilometre stage the fastest, sweeping up from far back and seizing the win in front of Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates).
Dainese was embraced by his teammates after the race, the Italian’s win a boost for the squad who can only boast two other victories this season.
"I can't believe it happened,” said Dainese. “This morning the plan was to go for Cees in the sprint but in the last kilometres, we swapped because he wasn't feeling so good. Then I was just trying to stay relaxed and following the guys.
“It's not really my home stage, that comes in stage 19. But it feels pretty amazing to win a stage in the Giro. Anywhere would feel amazing, especially being so close to home it's incredible.”
The sprinter paid tribute to team leader Romain Bardet, who gave him a lead out in the final kilometres despite that generally being a role not taken up by the top climbers.
"It's insane that Romain is sitting third in the GC, and he gave me a lead out to the last corner,” said Dainese. “That shows that we really work as a team. Then I was a bit boxed-in, in the middle and I found a gap on the left and I just went to the line with Gaviria on the right. The last 20 metres I came past him, and it feels super."
It wasn’t an eventful day for the peloton, but it was a nervy one as the winds were up in the region and there was some brief gutter action during the day’s racing.
Filippo Tagliani (Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli) and Luca Rastelli (Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè) were the early uncontested breakaway, but they were brought back in quick time as the winds picked up.
They just made it through the first intermediate sprint ahead of the peloton, with Mark Cavendish (QuickStep Alpha Vinyl) and Giacomo Nizzolo (Israel Premier Tech) securing a small points swing over maglia ciclamino holder Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ).
There were a series of surges in the windy spots, but aside from a brief moment of splits in the peloton which were quickly welded shut, the race got itself set for a sprint finish.
One man, Dries de Bondt (Alpecin-Fenix) didn’t read the script and took off on a solo move with 58 kilometres to go, wresting out a minute and a half lead. His advantage was brought back down to 20 seconds with 22 kilometres to go and the catch appeared inevitable.
However, de Bondt went into a different mode and held the gap at 20 seconds well into the final kilometres, only ceding ground when the sprint trains began jockeying for position at the head of the peloton.
A short-lived attack from Michael Hepburn (BikeExchange-Jayco) bridged up briefly to de Bondt before both were shut down and it was all for the sprint from there.
Groupama-FDJ looked to be in the perfect position with Demare, but they were swamped on the final bend and it became a messy sprint to the line, with Gaviria going long range and looking to have the victory within his grasp. However, Dainese flashed home to take a breakthrough win, just overcoming Gaviria, with Simone Consonni (Cofidis) finishing third.
The highest placed Australian finisher was Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) in fifth, the sprinter appearing not quite to have the required form to finish things off despite being positioned well in the final run to the line.
The Giro d'Italia continues on SBS with Stage 12, a 204 kilometre stage from Parma to Genoa, the longest in the 2022 edition of the Italian Grand Tour. Watch the full stage from 7.40pm AEST on SBS On Demand, with SBS coverage starting from 11pm AEST. WA viewers can watch from 9pm AWST on SBS VICELAND.
