The penultimate stage of the Giro d’Italia saw the climbers and GC riders come to the fore with an 18 kilometre time trial that finished with the brutally steep Monte Lussari climb, which included an almost five kilometre section at an eye-watering 15 percent in gradient. Due to the logistical challenge of the narrow climb and lack of space at the finish, the riders set off in three waves. Alberto Dainese, Niklas Märkl, Jonas Iversby Hvideberg and Marius Mayrhofer all went off in either the first or second wave and finished their time trial efforts safely within the time limit.
All eyes were on Andreas Leknessund who went into the day sitting ninth on GC, with Team DSM and the Norwegian looking to cement their place in the overall standings and potentially move even further up. Rolling down the start ramp and riding a good place on the flat section, Leknessund’s bike change went smoothly and he transitioned over to his road bike to take on the climb. Following a good pacing plan set by the team, he continued to stamp on the pedals on the steep ramps; crossing the line with a time of 46 minutes and 12 seconds. It was an effort that would see Leknessund take ninth place on the stage once the dust had settled, and move up in GC to eighth place for Team DSM, agonisingly just one second behind Dunbar who sits in seventh.
Tomorrow sees the peloton take on the processional entry into Rome before the sprinters come to the fore, where there is one more chance at stage glory on offer.
