Nat Bromhead
As if an uphill start and 239km wasn’t enough after a day off, Giro organisers added 5 extra kilometres to Stage 10 of the race, the first day back from Monday’s rest day.
It was a bittersweet day for Mitchelton-Scott with Simon Yates consolidating his overall lead, the 25yo Brit now 41 seconds ahead of his nearest rival.
But you’ve got to feel for honorary Aussie Esteban Chaves who went into the stage in second overall and sadly, after being dropped early on, lost crucial time to the brutal parcours and an extremely active and aggressive peloton.
Yates: I’m Disappointed For Chaves
Speaking to media after again being awarded the pink leader’s jersey, Yates expressed sadness over teammate Chaves’s tough day in the saddle.
“I am very disappointed for him but hopefully he can bounce back and get a few stage wins,” he said.
“I was going to go for the bonus seconds … I am going to need every second I can so maybe I need to start sprinting for more than bonus seconds. We will still approach the race in the same way, there’s many more difficult stages to come so we will see how it goes.”
Chaves: Love Hate Relationship With Giro
Meanwhile Esteban Chaves told media his general classification at this year’s Giro was gone.
“I have to thank the team for everything they did to try to bridge the gap, he said. “But with all the other teams working against us, we had to call it and save our legs for the bigger picture.”
Chaves said with Yates extending his lead the team were still looking strong. “We don’t have each other to play off, but we still have a strong team,” he said. “I’ve got a difficult relationship with Italy; it’s love and hate. Just a few days ago, I enjoyed one of the best days of my career and now it’s hard for my morale. But that’s life, we can only do our best. The important thing is that we’ve still got the leader’s jersey. Our plans won’t change.”
Simon Yates has a 41second buffer on 2017 Giro winner Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) and 46seconds on Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ).
Live Giro coverage continues from 9PM tonight on Eurosport – Check the Foxtel or Foxtel Now guide for highlights and broadcast times.
Giro d’Italia Stage 10 Top 3
1. Matej Mohoric (Bahrain-Merida) 6:04:52
2. Nico Denz (AG2R La Mondiale) ST
3. Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) +0:34
General classification Top 3 After Stage 10
1. Simon Yates (Mitchelton-SCOTT) 43:42
2. Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) +0:41
3. Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) +0:46
