Astana’s Fuglsang remains 6th after Giro d’Italia Stage 19
Today`s 19th stage was supposed to be 258km from Morbegno to Asti but after discussions ahead of the start of the stage, the stage was neutralized after the peloton rolled already out of the city.
Riders went on the team busses closer to Asti to take on the stage in Abbiategrasso and ride 124km to the planned finish in Asti.
Immediately after the restart at 14:30, 14 riders launched an attack and went up the road, while Astana Pro Team remained in the main bunch. The escapees had quickly an advantage of more than 8 minutes and were able to hold it onto the finish line.
Approaching the finale, a rider pulled away and made his way to the finish line, securing his biggest success in his career, while all Astana Pro Team riders arrived within the peloton.
After today`s unusual stage, the overall ranking remained the same with Jakob Fuglsang ranking in sixth place.
«Well, today was different than we thought it would be as we left the hotel. As the decision to shorten the stage was made, we went back to our busses and tried to stay warm and dry. After the restart our main goal was to protect Jakob, to keep him out of troubles and to bring him safely to the line and save as much energy as possible for tomorrow`s tough stage. And it worked all out. So we focus now on tomorrow`s stage,» Jonas Gregaard said.
Tomorrow´s penultimate stage of the Giro d`Italia could bring once again a shake up on the general classification. 190km split into two parts, a flat start and a hard second half including three climbs on the way up to Sestriere await the riders.