Geraint Thomas will put on the chief’s pink jersey into Saturday’s decisive mountain time trial on the Giro d’Italia after Primoz Roglic might take solely a handful of seconds out of the Welshman’s benefit on the Queen stage within the Dolomites.
Thomas and Roglic traded assaults within the remaining kilometre of this beastly stage however on the very high of the Tre Cime di Lavaredo it was Roglic, who had modified bikes on the strategy to the final climb to get higher gearing, who was capable of open up a three-second hole within the remaining few metres.
That cuts Thomas’ benefit to simply 26 seconds going into Saturday’s race towards the clock to the highest of the Monte Lussari.
Joao Almeida was distanced within the final couple of hundred metres to concede 20 seconds however the Portuguese comfortably retains his spot on the rostrum, 59 seconds down, after Irishman Eddie Dunbar fell away late on to lose fourth place total to Damiano Caruso.
“It was OK,” Thomas mentioned. “When I went with 400 metres to go I realised after 100 that 400 is a long way at this altitude. I just tried to pace it and then Roglic came past in the last 100 metres or so.
“I lost a couple of seconds on the line but it was nice to gain some time on Joao, it will be super close tomorrow. I think it’s going to be exciting to watch, horrible to do.”
Santiago Buitrago took the win from what had been a 12-strong breakaway, once more denying Derek Gee, the Canadian who was in a seventh break of this Giro and who had fought till the ultimate 1500 metres earlier than watching the Colombian dance away.
Before the stage started Thomas, who celebrated his thirty seventh birthday on Thursday, had joked he mustn’t nonetheless be doing this type of factor at his age and must be on a seashore someplace.
Instead, the Ineos Grenadiers rider was tackling a 183km stage via the Dolomites that included nearly 5 and a half thousand metres of climbing.
The final time the Giro visited this end 10 years in the past, Vincenzo Nibali emerged from a snowstorm on the summit to take a win which successfully sealed his total victory.
There can be nothing so decisive right here given what continues to be to come back on Saturday, nevertheless it might be one other main check ticked off for Thomas as Roglic might solely put a minor dent in his lead.
The Slovenian actually tried to do extra. With 20km to go Roglic stopped to swap bikes, hopping on to a machine with a single ring on the entrance and a monster 44t sprocket on the again, an indication of his intentions for a finale the place gradients hit 16 per cent.
As clear skies gave solution to heavy rain and hail, Thomas’s Ineos Grenadiers set their regular sturdy tempo to whittle down the slim remnants of the peloton.
That did for Dunbar with a few kilometres to go. Almeida briefly moved up as riders fought for house on roads full of excited followers.
Roglic wriggled via however Thomas reacted to remain on his wheel as they reached the sanctuary of the limitations on the strategy to the road.
Thomas then made his personal transfer with 400 metres to go and gave the impression to be leaving Roglic behind, just for the Slovenian to discover a remaining kick on the finish and take again three seconds, narrowly failing to catch Magnus Cort who rode in third to take the final of the bonus seconds on the road.
