At the start of this Giro, in addition to the poker of favorites – already positioned at the top of the standings with Primoz Roglic in the squad followed by Simon Yates, Nibali and Dumoulin – there was that of sprinters – Viviani, Gaviria, Démare and Ewan – ready to challenge each other in the flat or undulating stages that have more the flavor of the hill than of the real mountain. Just like yesterday's fraction that he saw at the finish line was Fucecchio, at the end of 205 km of roads reminiscent of Bartali, the first sprint in compact ranks of the whole group. But it was not one of the four most popular musketeers in the sprint from the Giro who raised his arms in victory but a 25-year-old German, Pascal Ackermann, of Bora-Hansgrohe with a track record certainly less rich than that of Viviani and his companions but which had nevertheless given some signs of danger by winning a stage of the Tour de Romandie and the Critérium du Dauphiné last year as well as the title of champion of Germany beating not an unknown but John Degenkolb. Sprint conditioned by exaggerated tactics with Viviani putting himself on Gaviria's wheel, with no one wanting to take the initiative up to 250 metres: Ackermann is good at seizing this moment of suspense to sprint with power, then thwarting the return of Viviani and Caleb Ewan third, Gaviria fourth, Démare fifth. There are no Greipel, Kittel and Degenkolb but Germany at the first opportunity gets, thanks to Ackermann, its 36th victory in the Giro.
Quiet day for Roglic who remains in pink with the gaps set by the Bologna time trial. The general ranking remains unchanged, but not the one for the best climber with Julius Ciccone who strengthened his blue jersey by going first at the various Gpm of the day. He had conquered it on Saturday by climbing the two km of the San Luca slope in a time less than a second than that set by Roglic. Little advertised but a really good exploit for the 24-year-old rider from Chieti who, among other things, is also the third youngest cyclist to have won a stage of the Giro (that of Sestola in 2016) after Frausto Coppi and Luigi Marchisio. Today the Giro goes da Vinci in Orbetello: 220 km without any major difficulty. Another stage for sprinters: an opportunity for yesterday's losers to take immediate revenge.
