Busy as he was, head fixed on the handlebars, swinging his legs, he certainly didn't enjoy the stupendous panorama of the island of Dino which dominates the coast of Praia a Mare, but Diego Ulissi in the Calabrian town created the most beautiful feat of his career. Started on the ramps of the Via del Fortino, short but dry with gradients of up to 18%, the Lampre-Merida rider from Livorno was able to resist the impetuous pursuit of the best squad in the last ten km. A spectacular solo concluded at the finish line, arms raised on the helmet, with a 5” lead over Tom Dumoulin and Steven Kruijswij who in turn preceded by a second a group of about twenty riders including NIbali, Valverde and Landa.
For Ulissi it is the fifth victory in the Giro, the first solo and as a consummate finisseur, but above all it is the act of the definitive rebirth, after the painful months of disqualification for the salbutamol affair, of the Italian cyclist best suited for the great classics. Ulissi, who also won a Milano-Torino and a Giro dell'Emila. He is in his fifth Giro and only in one edition, that of 2012, has he not won at least one stage. In 2014 he even made a set before retiring.
Speaking of Ulissi's exploit, the first Italian stage of the Giro, with the christening of Praia di Mare as the finish site, brought back Tom Dumoulin in pink, an uncomfortable customer for everyone if he were to hold on even on the great mountains. Marcel Kittel gave up as soon as the road climbed inland, leaving the flat Calabrian coast at times. In the Dutch sprints, the blond German Marcantonio had the appearance of a demigod who fell into the Giro to electrocute humans. On the first not even prohibitive ascents faced by the race, he was once again a mortal who suffers, like all great sprinters, from slopes.
Thus, after a pale but proud attempt to resist, he resigned himself to defeat saving energy for arrivals where he will be able to impose his formidable sprint again. Kittel, always accompanied by his trusty Sabatini, the one who best pulls his sprints, arrived at the finish line over 8 minutes late when Dumoulin was already ready on stage to put on the pink jersey again. He still has the red jersey of the points classification which won't be easy to take away from him if he manages to finish the Giro.
Among the men in the standings, the stage in Praia showcased a Nibali and a Valverde always in the heat of the race, careful to govern it as confirmed by the order of arrival with the Spaniard from Movistar in fourth place and the champion of Italy in sixth, Mikel Landa cannot be said the same. The leader of Team Sky arrived in the group of the best, but on the climb of the Fortino he appeared in great difficulty. Luckily for him, he found a generous partner in Nicholas Roche who helped him catch up with Nibali and his teammates in the finale.
Today the Giro heads north aiming for Benevento, for the seventh time the finish line of the pink race: the first was in 1925 with the victory of Costante Girardengo, the last in 2009 with the success of Michele Scarponi. Long stage with its 233 km but without major difficulties, ideal on paper for sprinters, who all went out of the game yesterday on the Calabrian ups and downs. It is obvious that Kittel immediately returned to being the most popular Kittel followed by the other fast wheels of the Giro such as Greipel, Démare, Modolo, Viviani and Nizzolo.
In terms of flags, meanwhile, the bad luck continues for the French who, after losing Jean-Cristophe Péraud in the last Dutch stage, saw yesterday the abandonment of the Giro by Alexandre Geniez as well. The hopes of a success in the stage all hang with Arnaud Dèmare but the FDJ sprinter also has his snags in the form of an annoying investigation opened into his victory in the Milan-San Remo: he would have used the tow of a motorbike to rejoin the group after the fall on the Cypress. For a similar thing Nibali was disqualified in the last Vuelta. Nibali was nailed by a video seen by all. For Demare the accusation would be based only on the testimony of some riders.
