photo credits @ Giro d’Italia
Luke Plapp (Jayco Alula) emerged victorious from a multi-dimensional Stage 8 at the Giro d’Italia, set up from the outset and sculpted to go the way of the break.
That meant an impossibly tough, protracted battle for a place in it. In the end, 19 riders made it into the move that took until kilometer 88 to stick.
Dylan Van Baarle (Visma-Lease a Bike) rode hard to rapidly reduce that number to a small fighting force with further competition ensuring by the penultimate categorized climb there were just four riders left. One of them, Australian TT champion Plapp, rode away 1km from the summit building over a minute’s lead that was enough to ensure victory.
Another of his breakaway companions, eight-time Giro stage winner Diego Ulissi (XDS Astana) had the possibility of taking the maglia rosa. Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe had indicated they were happy to hand it over. Although at moments in the finale it appeared to be heading for heartbreak, as the peloton began to put down the power, Ulissi made it to the line 4’12” ahead of Primoz Roglic.
This puts Ulissi in the maglia rosa by 17 seconds from Roglic, with his Astana team-mate Lorenzo Fortunato in second place with 40 points ensuring he will wear the king of the mountains jersey tomorrow.
