The famous Altu de l’Angrilu and it’s brutally steep gradients awaited the peloton on Wednesday afternoon, with Romain Bardet attacking the GC group and then fighting to the line for 12th place.
A potential day for the breakaway, it was a fierce start to proceedings with multiple attacks at the head of the race. Team dsm-firmenich were active in following the moves with Romain Combaud and Chris Hamilton making it into a five rider group. However, the peloton kept them close and the gap was eventually closed as riders bridged across and attacked over the top with the duo returning to the bunch. A strong pace continued to be set throughout the day as they tackled the climbs, with Max Poole and Romain Bardet remaining in the ever-reducing peloton as they hit the lower slopes of the final climb. Testing himself against the GC group, Bardet stayed within the peloton whilst Poole let go of the group and rode at his own tempo; saving energy for the coming days.
Riding with panache, Bardet put in two attacks once Evenepoel was caught from the breakaway but the GC group kept up their strong pace and didn’t allow him to get a substantial gap. Once he was reeled in, Bardet rode at his own tempo, battling up the steep gradients to take a solid 12th place at the finish.
