Marius Mayrhofer finishes 7th after brave fight in the stage 14 break

In the 14th stage of the Giro d’Italia, Marius Mayrhofer showed some brilliant riding as he stayed away in the breakaway and crossed the line in 7th place. The rest of the team looked after each other well in the bunch and finished just over 21 minutes behind the break.

After the shortened stage yesterday, a tough day awaited the peloton as the parcours brought them from Sierre to Cassano Magnago in 194 kilometres. Soon after the flag dropped, a large group fought for a place in the breakaway with a big group succeeding after approximately 22 kilometres. For Team DSM Marius Mayrhofer managed to make the jump to the big group of leaders. As the race approached the final, four riders attacked and went clear as Marius rode his own pace in the chasing group.

In the final 20 kilometres, Marius accelerated multiple times to catch the group of leaders, taking a small group with him, which ultimately resulted in the four leaders being caught in the last 600 metres of the stage. Marius gave it his all in hunting down the leaders but he didn’t have the legs anymore to compete against the others in the sprint, finishing the day in a solid 7th place.

After the finish, Mayrhofer commented: “I managed to get in the breakaway, which was a big group, unfortunately. It was raining the whole day and it was cold, so it was horrible weather again. The break split up and four guys attacked, but we managed to chase them down to one minute. For the last 20 kilometres it was full on with a lot of corners and climbs. I went all out to catch the guys and we caught them with 600 metres to go, but I was too empty to sprint. So a disappointing finish, but will bounce back the next time.”

Team DSM coach Luke Roberts added: “We hoped to put Marius in the breakaway today as we knew it would be a good stage for him. He did a good job to get into that group. Eventually, Marius had to rely on some other teams to close down the gap with three leaders who attacked. Marius did a good ride from there as he picked the right guys to move with. He got a good strong group working and could close the gap with those three riders in the final. It was the first time Marius was in a situation like that and I think he learned a lot there from some experienced riders who know how to play this game. Unfortunately, Marius didn’t have the legs for a sprint, but it was great to see him putting himself back in the race. For sure, the next time he will go for the win!”