Category: Thomas de Gendt

Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) looked like he had “given up” on winning more Grand Tour stages before his explosive renaissance at the Giro d’Italia on Stage 8, according to Dan Lloyd on The Breakaway.

An exhilarating finale saw a front group of four slowly reeled in by a chase pack of five, which contained pre-stage favourites Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) and Biniam Girmay (Intermarche–Wanty–Gobert Materiaux).

But the leaders had a wildcard in old head De Gendt, who marshalled his inexperienced team-mate Harm Vanhoucke and novices Davide Gabburo (Bardiani–CSF–Faizane) and Jorge Arcas (Movistar) throughout.

De Gendt appeared to be riding to tee up team-mate Vanhoucke for victory, but they swapped roles in the final 3km, allowing the 35-year-old to power down the home straight for another memorable win from the breakaway – 10 years after his only other triumph at the Giro.

“I was working for Harm, [hoping] that he could attack on the [final] climb,” admitted De Gendt afterwards.

“But he said he didn’t have good legs any more so I said in the last 3km to Harm, ‘you ride full and I’m sure I will win the sprint, I’m sure’.

“He did it perfectly until 300m to go so I have to thank Harm a lot that he could pull this off for me.

“If you would have asked me two years ago if I was able to win a stage in the Giro, I would have said no because I was in such bad shape. And now the good legs are coming.”

Former star of The Breakaway Cherrie Pridham, now directeur sportif of Lotto Soudal, gave an emotional interview to Eurosport after the stage.

“With Thomas De Gendt and his experience, he just kept the young boys calm,” she said.

“And we did it, it’s just what the team needed and now we can continue with great momentum.”

When asked what she had said to De Gendt over the team radio during the run-in, Pridham continued: “He was cool, calm and collected as you can imagine.

“He just said ‘I’m the fastest here’ so I had to believe in him.”

With Lotto Soudal’s sprinter, Caleb Ewan, still searching for his first victory in the 2022 Giro, it was a welcome boost for the team.

“Any day in a break, you’ve got to have a reckoning with him because he’s just so strong,” said Eurosport expert and 12-time Giro stage winner Robbie McEwen.

“Thomas the Tank Engine! We said he’s a diesel, but he’s a twin-turbo diesel. He’s got a really powerful sprint that not many people think about because he just seems to grind it out all day long.

“But what I loved was his commitment to the break and it looked when Mathieu van der Poel and Biniam Girmay were going to come back, it [the gap] got to nine seconds, but De Gendt went to the front and fended them off.

“If he hadn’t done that, they would have lost and the sprinters would have come back on them. He basically led himself out to the win. What a ride.”

De Gendt was once widely considered the greatest breakaway artist in the peloton but arrived at the Giro without a Grand Tour win since the 2019 Tour de France.

“In the years since then… De Gendt has said ‘things have just moved on, I’m not capable of doing what I used to do even though I’m putting out a similar amount of power, things have moved on in terms of how good everyone else is’,” said Lloyd.

“So I felt like he had kind of given up and it felt from that interview like he had kind of given up before the start of this race. So I’m just realised pleased for him.”

The Giro continues with the first five-star stage on Sunday, which features a double ascent of the imposing Blockhaus.

– – –

Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) looked like he had “given up” on winning more Grand Tour stages before his explosive renaissance at the Giro d’Italia on Stage 8, according to Dan Lloyd on The Breakaway.

An exhilarating finale saw a front group of four slowly reeled in by a chase pack of five, which contained pre-stage favourites Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) and Biniam Girmay (Intermarche–Wanty–Gobert Materiaux).

But the leaders had a wildcard in old head De Gendt, who marshalled his inexperienced team-mate Harm Vanhoucke and novices Davide Gabburo (Bardiani–CSF–Faizane) and Jorge Arcas (Movistar) throughout.

De Gendt appeared to be riding to tee up team-mate Vanhoucke for victory, but they swapped roles in the final 3km, allowing the 35-year-old to power down the home straight for another memorable win from the breakaway – 10 years after his only other triumph at the Giro.

“I was working for Harm, [hoping] that he could attack on the [final] climb,” admitted De Gendt afterwards.

“But he said he didn’t have good legs any more so I said in the last 3km to Harm, ‘you ride full and I’m sure I will win the sprint, I’m sure’.

“He did it perfectly until 300m to go so I have to thank Harm a lot that he could pull this off for me.

“If you would have asked me two years ago if I was able to win a stage in the Giro, I would have said no because I was in such bad shape. And now the good legs are coming.”

Former star of The Breakaway Cherrie Pridham, now directeur sportif of Lotto Soudal, gave an emotional interview to Eurosport after the stage.

“With Thomas De Gendt and his experience, he just kept the young boys calm,” she said.

“And we did it, it’s just what the team needed and now we can continue with great momentum.”

When asked what she had said to De Gendt over the team radio during the run-in, Pridham continued: “He was cool, calm and collected as you can imagine.

“He just said ‘I’m the fastest here’ so I had to believe in him.”

With Lotto Soudal’s sprinter, Caleb Ewan, still searching for his first victory in the 2022 Giro, it was a welcome boost for the team.

“Any day in a break, you’ve got to have a reckoning with him because he’s just so strong,” said Eurosport expert and 12-time Giro stage winner Robbie McEwen.

“Thomas the Tank Engine! We said he’s a diesel, but he’s a twin-turbo diesel. He’s got a really powerful sprint that not many people think about because he just seems to grind it out all day long.

“But what I loved was his commitment to the break and it looked when Mathieu van der Poel and Biniam Girmay were going to come back, it [the gap] got to nine seconds, but De Gendt went to the front and fended them off.

“If he hadn’t done that, they would have lost and the sprinters would have come back on them. He basically led himself out to the win. What a ride.”

De Gendt was once widely considered the greatest breakaway artist in the peloton but arrived at the Giro without a Grand Tour win since the 2019 Tour de France.

“In the years since then… De Gendt has said ‘things have just moved on, I’m not capable of doing what I used to do even though I’m putting out a similar amount of power, things have moved on in terms of how good everyone else is’,” said Lloyd.

“So I felt like he had kind of given up and it felt from that interview like he had kind of given up before the start of this race. So I’m just realised pleased for him.”

The Giro continues with the first five-star stage on Sunday, which features a double ascent of the imposing Blockhaus.

– – –

Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) looked like he had “given up” on winning more Grand Tour stages before his explosive renaissance at the Giro d’Italia on Stage 8, according to Dan Lloyd on The Breakaway.

An exhilarating finale saw a front group of four slowly reeled in by a chase pack of five, which contained pre-stage favourites Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) and Biniam Girmay (Intermarche–Wanty–Gobert Materiaux).

But the leaders had a wildcard in old head De Gendt, who marshalled his inexperienced team-mate Harm Vanhoucke and novices Davide Gabburo (Bardiani–CSF–Faizane) and Jorge Arcas (Movistar) throughout.

De Gendt appeared to be riding to tee up team-mate Vanhoucke for victory, but they swapped roles in the final 3km, allowing the 35-year-old to power down the home straight for another memorable win from the breakaway – 10 years after his only other triumph at the Giro.

“I was working for Harm, [hoping] that he could attack on the [final] climb,” admitted De Gendt afterwards.

“But he said he didn’t have good legs any more so I said in the last 3km to Harm, ‘you ride full and I’m sure I will win the sprint, I’m sure’.

“He did it perfectly until 300m to go so I have to thank Harm a lot that he could pull this off for me.

“If you would have asked me two years ago if I was able to win a stage in the Giro, I would have said no because I was in such bad shape. And now the good legs are coming.”

Former star of The Breakaway Cherrie Pridham, now directeur sportif of Lotto Soudal, gave an emotional interview to Eurosport after the stage.

“With Thomas De Gendt and his experience, he just kept the young boys calm,” she said.

“And we did it, it’s just what the team needed and now we can continue with great momentum.”

When asked what she had said to De Gendt over the team radio during the run-in, Pridham continued: “He was cool, calm and collected as you can imagine.

“He just said ‘I’m the fastest here’ so I had to believe in him.”

With Lotto Soudal’s sprinter, Caleb Ewan, still searching for his first victory in the 2022 Giro, it was a welcome boost for the team.

“Any day in a break, you’ve got to have a reckoning with him because he’s just so strong,” said Eurosport expert and 12-time Giro stage winner Robbie McEwen.

“Thomas the Tank Engine! We said he’s a diesel, but he’s a twin-turbo diesel. He’s got a really powerful sprint that not many people think about because he just seems to grind it out all day long.

“But what I loved was his commitment to the break and it looked when Mathieu van der Poel and Biniam Girmay were going to come back, it [the gap] got to nine seconds, but De Gendt went to the front and fended them off.

“If he hadn’t done that, they would have lost and the sprinters would have come back on them. He basically led himself out to the win. What a ride.”

De Gendt was once widely considered the greatest breakaway artist in the peloton but arrived at the Giro without a Grand Tour win since the 2019 Tour de France.

“In the years since then… De Gendt has said ‘things have just moved on, I’m not capable of doing what I used to do even though I’m putting out a similar amount of power, things have moved on in terms of how good everyone else is’,” said Lloyd.

“So I felt like he had kind of given up and it felt from that interview like he had kind of given up before the start of this race. So I’m just realised pleased for him.”

The Giro continues with the first five-star stage on Sunday, which features a double ascent of the imposing Blockhaus.

– – –

Ten years after his historic win on the Stelvio, Thomas De Gendt soared to a second Giro d’Italia stage win with an emphatic victory on the streets of Naples thanks to a little help from his Belgian compatriot and teammate Harm Vanhoucke.

The Lotto Soudal duo were part of a four-man move that extricated itself from a stellar breakaway that featured a third Lotto Soudal rider in Sylvain Moniquet as well as the likes of Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix), Biniam Girmay (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert) and Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates).

On an absorbing 153km circuit race that had the feel of a mini world championships, the day’s breakaway built up a maximum lead of over four minutes during four lumpy loops around Bacoli, the picturesque peninsula to the west of Naples.

Despite the quartet’s lead coming down to just 10 seconds over chasing duo Van der Poel and Girmay as the riders entered the final kilometre, the four leaders held on to contest the win with De Gendt launching himself from team-mate Vanhoucke’s wheel to hold off Italy’s Davide Gaburro (Bardiani-CSF) and Spain’s Jorge Arcas (Movistar).

The Belgian breakaway specialist’s emphatic burst to the line ensured that the remaining three riders of the move will have to wait another day for their first ever pro win – not that fourth-place Vanhoucke looked too concerned after he punched the air behind to celebrate his team-mate’s victory.

“I was working for Harm so he could attack on the final climb,” De Gendt revealed after the 17th win of his career. “But he said he didn’t have good legs anymore so I told him to ride full gas on the last three kilometres because I was sure I would win the sprint. He did it perfectly until a few hundred metres to go so I have to thank Harm a lot that he could pull this result off for me. We did a good job as a team today.”

Eritrea’s Girmay took fifth place at 15 seconds ahead of Switzerland’s Mauro Schmid (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) and the Dutchman Van der Poel, whose early swashbuckling solo attack at the start of the stage provided the springboard for the day’s 21-man move to form.

It was Van der Poel’s subsequent attack on the third of four ascents of Monte di Procida on the penultimate lap with 46km remaining which caused the first major shake-out in the breakaway and paved the way for De Gendt and Vanhoucke to put in the decisive counter-attack.

A quintet of Van der Poel, Girmay, Schmid, Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious) and Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) formed behind but the four riders stretched their lead to 40 seconds on the run back from Bacoli towards the centre of Naples.

And despite a late effort from Van der Poel and Girmay – the two riders who finished first and second on the opening stage of the race – the chasing duo ultimately ran out of road in the capital of pizza on the Campania coast.

Frenchman Martin took ninth place to surge up the overall standings on a day the peloton came home just over three and a half minutes down. Martin is now fourth on GC, 1:06 behind Trek-Sagafredo’s Juan Pedro Lopez, who was forced to shut down a late attack by rival Lennard Kamna of Bora-Hansgrohe.

Spaniard Lopez retains his 38-second lead over Germany’s Kamna on the eve of the second major mountain test of the 105th edition of the Giro – a daunting summit showdown on the infamous Blockhaus climb in the Apennines.

But the day belonged to Lotto Soudal and De Gendt, the 35-year-old veteran who proved their was life in the old dog yet – swooping to his fifth Grand Tour stage win three years after his last win on the Tour de France at Saint-Etienne.

“Today was one of those days which suited me. It was always up and down and hard to recover, but it’s also hard to close the gap,” De Gendt said.

“Ten years after the Stelvio stage I finally win a stage in the Giro again. If you’d asked me two weeks ago if I was able to win a stage on the Giro I would have said no because I was in such bad shape. But now the good legs are coming.”

– – –

Ten years after his historic win on the Stelvio, Thomas De Gendt soared to a second Giro d’Italia stage win with an emphatic victory on the streets of Naples thanks to a little help from his Belgian compatriot and teammate Harm Vanhoucke.

The Lotto Soudal duo were part of a four-man move that extricated itself from a stellar breakaway that featured a third Lotto Soudal rider in Sylvain Moniquet as well as the likes of Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix), Biniam Girmay (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert) and Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates).

On an absorbing 153km circuit race that had the feel of a mini world championships, the day’s breakaway built up a maximum lead of over four minutes during four lumpy loops around Bacoli, the picturesque peninsula to the west of Naples.

Despite the quartet’s lead coming down to just 10 seconds over chasing duo Van der Poel and Girmay as the riders entered the final kilometre, the four leaders held on to contest the win with De Gendt launching himself from team-mate Vanhoucke’s wheel to hold off Italy’s Davide Gaburro (Bardiani-CSF) and Spain’s Jorge Arcas (Movistar).

The Belgian breakaway specialist’s emphatic burst to the line ensured that the remaining three riders of the move will have to wait another day for their first ever pro win – not that fourth-place Vanhoucke looked too concerned after he punched the air behind to celebrate his team-mate’s victory.

“I was working for Harm so he could attack on the final climb,” De Gendt revealed after the 17th win of his career. “But he said he didn’t have good legs anymore so I told him to ride full gas on the last three kilometres because I was sure I would win the sprint. He did it perfectly until a few hundred metres to go so I have to thank Harm a lot that he could pull this result off for me. We did a good job as a team today.”

Eritrea’s Girmay took fifth place at 15 seconds ahead of Switzerland’s Mauro Schmid (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) and the Dutchman Van der Poel, whose early swashbuckling solo attack at the start of the stage provided the springboard for the day’s 21-man move to form.

It was Van der Poel’s subsequent attack on the third of four ascents of Monte di Procida on the penultimate lap with 46km remaining which caused the first major shake-out in the breakaway and paved the way for De Gendt and Vanhoucke to put in the decisive counter-attack.

A quintet of Van der Poel, Girmay, Schmid, Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious) and Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) formed behind but the four riders stretched their lead to 40 seconds on the run back from Bacoli towards the centre of Naples.

And despite a late effort from Van der Poel and Girmay – the two riders who finished first and second on the opening stage of the race – the chasing duo ultimately ran out of road in the capital of pizza on the Campania coast, largely down to the Eritrean’s understandable insistence on making his Dutch counterpart do all the work.

Frenchman Martin took ninth place to surge up the overall standings on a day the peloton came home just over three and a half minutes down. Martin is now fourth on GC, 1:06 behind Trek-Sagafredo’s Juan Pedro Lopez, who was forced to shut down a late attack by rival Lennard Kamna of Bora-Hansgrohe.

Spaniard Lopez retains his 38-second lead over Germany’s Kamna on the eve of the second major mountain test of the 105th edition of the Giro – a daunting summit showdown on the infamous Blockhaus climb in the Apennines.

But the day belonged to Lotto Soudal and De Gendt, the 35-year-old veteran who proved their was life in the old dog yet – swooping to his fifth Grand Tour stage win three years after his last win on the Tour de France at Saint-Etienne.

“Today was one of those days which suited me. It was always up and down and hard to recover, but it’s also hard to close the gap,” De Gendt said.

“Ten years after the Stelvio stage I finally win a stage in the Giro again. If you’d asked me two weeks ago if I was able to win a stage on the Giro I would have said no because I was in such bad shape. But now the good legs are coming.”

– – –

Ten years after his historic win on the Stelvio, Thomas De Gendt soared to a second Giro d’Italia stage win with an emphatic victory on the streets of Naples thanks to a little help from his Belgian compatriot and teammate Harm Vanhoucke.

The Lotto Soudal duo were part of a four-man move that extricated itself from a stellar breakaway that featured a third Lotto Soudal rider in Sylvain Moniquet as well as the likes of Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix), Biniam Girmay (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert) and Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates).

On an absorbing 153km circuit race that had the feel of a mini world championships, the day’s breakaway built up a maximum lead of over four minutes during four lumpy loops around Bacoli, the picturesque peninsula to the west of Naples.

Despite the quartet’s lead coming down to just 10 seconds over chasing duo Van der Poel and Girmay as the riders entered the final kilometre, the four leaders held on to contest the win with De Gendt launching himself from team-mate Vanhoucke’s wheel to hold off Italy’s Davide Gaburro (Bardiani-CSF) and Spain’s Jorge Arcas (Movistar).

The Belgian breakaway specialist’s emphatic burst to the line ensured that the remaining three riders of the move will have to wait another day for their first ever pro win – not that fourth-place Vanhoucke looked too concerned after he punched the air behind to celebrate his team-mate’s victory.

“I was working for Harm so he could attack on the final climb,” De Gendt revealed after the 17th win of his career. “But he said he didn’t have good legs anymore so I told him to ride full gas on the last three kilometres because I was sure I would win the sprint. He did it perfectly until a few hundred metres to go so I have to thank Harm a lot that he could pull this result off for me. We did a good job as a team today.”

Eritrea’s Girmay took fifth place at 15 seconds ahead of Switzerland’s Mauro Schmid (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) and the Dutchman Van der Poel, whose early swashbuckling solo attack at the start of the stage provided the springboard for the day’s 21-man move to form.

It was Van der Poel’s subsequent attack on the third of four ascents of Monte di Procida on the penultimate lap with 46km remaining which caused the first major shake-out in the breakaway and paved the way for De Gendt and Vanhoucke to put in the decisive counter-attack.

A quintet of Van der Poel, Girmay, Schmid, Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious) and Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) formed behind but the four riders stretched their lead to 40 seconds on the run back from Bacoli towards the centre of Naples.

And despite a late effort from Van der Poel and Girmay – the two riders who finished first and second on the opening stage of the race – the chasing duo ultimately ran out of road in the capital of pizza on the Campania coast.

Frenchman Martin took ninth place to surge up the overall standings on a day the peloton came home just over three and a half minutes down. Martin is now fourth on GC, 1:06 behind Trek-Sagafredo’s Juan Pedro Lopez, who was forced to shut down a late attack by rival Lennard Kamna of Bora-Hansgrohe.

Spaniard Lopez retains his 38-second lead over Germany’s Kamna on the eve of the second major mountain test of the 105th edition of the Giro – a daunting summit showdown on the infamous Blockhaus climb in the Apennines.

But the day belonged to Lotto Soudal and De Gendt, the 35-year-old veteran who proved their was life in the old dog yet – swooping to his fifth Grand Tour stage win three years after his last win on the Tour de France at Saint-Etienne.

“Today was one of those days which suited me. It was always up and down and hard to recover, but it’s also hard to close the gap,” De Gendt said.

“Ten years after the Stelvio stage I finally win a stage in the Giro again. If you’d asked me two weeks ago if I was able to win a stage on the Giro I would have said no because I was in such bad shape. But now the good legs are coming.”

– – –

Ten years after his historic win on the Stelvio, Thomas De Gendt soared to a second Giro d’Italia stage win with an emphatic victory on the streets of Naples thanks to a little help from his Belgian compatriot and teammate Harm Vanhoucke.

The Lotto Soudal duo were part of a four-man move that extricated itself from a stellar breakaway that featured a third Lotto Soudal rider in Sylvain Moniquet as well as the likes of Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix), Biniam Girmay (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert) and Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates).

On an absorbing 153km circuit race that had the feel of a mini world championships, the day’s breakaway built up a maximum lead of over four minutes during four lumpy loops around Bacoli, the picturesque peninsula to the west of Naples.

Despite the quartet’s lead coming down to just 10 seconds over chasing duo Van der Poel and Girmay as the riders entered the final kilometre, the four leaders held on to contest the win with De Gendt launching himself from team-mate Vanhoucke’s wheel to hold off Italy’s Davide Gaburro (Bardiani-CSF) and Spain’s Jorge Arcas (Movistar).

The Belgian breakaway specialist’s emphatic burst to the line ensured that the remaining three riders of the move will have to wait another day for their first ever pro win – not that fourth-place Vanhoucke looked too concerned after he punched the air behind to celebrate his team-mate’s victory.

“I was working for Harm so he could attack on the final climb,” De Gendt revealed after the 17th win of his career. “But he said he didn’t have good legs anymore so I told him to ride full gas on the last three kilometres because I was sure I would win the sprint. He did it perfectly until a few hundred metres to go so I have to thank Harm a lot that he could pull this result off for me. We did a good job as a team today.”

Eritrea’s Girmay took fifth place at 15 seconds ahead of Switzerland’s Mauro Schmid (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) and the Dutchman Van der Poel, whose early swashbuckling solo attack at the start of the stage provided the springboard for the day’s 21-man move to form.

It was Van der Poel’s subsequent attack on the third of four ascents of Monte di Procida on the penultimate lap with 46km remaining which caused the first major shake-out in the breakaway and paved the way for De Gendt and Vanhoucke to put in the decisive counter-attack.

A quintet of Van der Poel, Girmay, Schmid, Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious) and Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) formed behind but the four riders stretched their lead to 40 seconds on the run back from Bacoli towards the centre of Naples.

And despite a late effort from Van der Poel and Girmay – the two riders who finished first and second on the opening stage of the race – the chasing duo ultimately ran out of road in the capital of pizza on the Campania coast, largely down to the Eritrean’s understandable insistence on making his Dutch counterpart do all the work.

Frenchman Martin took ninth place to surge up the overall standings on a day the peloton came home just over three and a half minutes down. Martin is now fourth on GC, 1:06 behind Trek-Sagafredo’s Juan Pedro Lopez, who was forced to shut down a late attack by rival Lennard Kamna of Bora-Hansgrohe.

Spaniard Lopez retains his 38-second lead over Germany’s Kamna on the eve of the second major mountain test of the 105th edition of the Giro – a daunting summit showdown on the infamous Blockhaus climb in the Apennines.

But the day belonged to Lotto Soudal and De Gendt, the 35-year-old veteran who proved their was life in the old dog yet – swooping to his fifth Grand Tour stage win three years after his last win on the Tour de France at Saint-Etienne.

“Today was one of those days which suited me. It was always up and down and hard to recover, but it’s also hard to close the gap,” De Gendt said.

“Ten years after the Stelvio stage I finally win a stage in the Giro again. If you’d asked me two weeks ago if I was able to win a stage on the Giro I would have said no because I was in such bad shape. But now the good legs are coming.”

– – –

Ten years after his historic win on the Stelvio, Thomas De Gendt soared to a second Giro d’Italia stage win with an emphatic victory on the streets of Naples thanks to a little help from his Belgian compatriot and teammate Harm Vanhoucke.

The Lotto Soudal duo were part of a four-man move that extricated itself from a stellar breakaway that featured the likes of Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) and Biniam Girmay (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert) on the streets of Naples in an absorbing 153km circuit race that had the feel of a mini world championships.

Despite the gap coming down to just 10 seconds as the riders entered the final kilometre, the four leaders held on to contest the win with De Gendt launching himself from teammate Vanhoucke’s wheel to hold off Italy’s Davide Gaburro (Bardiani-CSF) and Spain’s Jorge Arcas (Movistar).

The Belgian breakaway specialist’s emphatic burst to the line ensured that the remaining three riders of the move will have to wait another day for their first ever pro win.

Eritrea’s Girmay took firth place at 15 seconds ahead of Switzerland’s Mauro Schmid (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) and the Dutchman Van der Poel, whose early attack at the start of the stage provided the springboard for the day’s 21-man break to form.

Frenchman Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) took ninth place to surge up the overall standings on a day the peloton came home just over three and a half minutes down. Martin rises to fourth place on GC, 1:06 behind Trek-Sagafredo’s Juan Pedro Lopez, who was forced to shut down a late attack by rival Lennard Kamna of Bora-Hansgrohe.

Spaniard Lopez retains his 38-second lead over Germany’s Kamna on the eve of the second major mountain test of the 105th edition of the Giro – a daunting summit showdown on the infamous Blockhaus climb in the Apennines.

More to follow.

– – –

Ten years after his historic win on the Stelvio, Thomas De Gendt soared to a second Giro d’Italia stage win with an emphatic victory on the streets of Naples thanks to a little help from his Belgian compatriot and teammate Harm Vanhoucke.

The Lotto Soudal duo were part of a four-man move that extricated itself from a stellar breakaway that featured a third Lotto Soudal rider in Sylvain Moniquet as well as the likes of Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix), Biniam Girmay (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert) and Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates).

On an absorbing 153km circuit race that had the feel of a mini world championships, the day’s breakaway built up a maximum lead of over four minutes during four lumpy loops around Bacoli, the picturesque peninsula to the west of Naples.

Despite the quartet’s lead coming down to just 10 seconds over chasing duo Van der Poel and Girmay as the riders entered the final kilometre, the four leaders held on to contest the win with De Gendt launching himself from teammate Vanhoucke’s wheel to hold off Italy’s Davide Gaburro (Bardiani-CSF) and Spain’s Jorge Arcas (Movistar).

The Belgian breakaway specialist’s emphatic burst to the line ensured that the remaining three riders of the move will have to wait another day for their first ever pro win – not that fourth-place Vanhoucke looked too concerned after he punched the air behind to celebrate his teammate’s victory.

“I was working for Harm so he could attack on the final climb,” De Gendt revealed after the 17th win of his career. “But he said he didn’t have good legs anymore so I told him to ride full gas on the last three kilometres because I was sure I would win the sprint. He did it perfectly until a few hundred metres to go so I have to thank Harm a lot that he could pull this result off for me. We did a good job as a team today.”

Eritrea’s Girmay took fifth place at 15 seconds ahead of Switzerland’s Mauro Schmid (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) and the Dutchman Van der Poel, whose early swashbuckling solo attack at the start of the stage provided the springboard for the day’s 21-man move to form.

It was Van der Poel’s subsequent attack on the third of four ascents of Monte di Procida on the penultimate lap with 46km remaining which caused the first major shake-out in the breakaway and paved the way for De Gendt and Vanhoucke to put in the decisive counter-attack.

A quintet of Van der Poel, Girmay, Schmid, Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious) and Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) formed behind but the four riders stretched their lead to 40 seconds on the run back from Bacoli towards the centre of Naples.

And despite a late effort from Van der Poel and Girmay – the two riders who finished first and second on the opening stage of the race – the chasing duo ultimately ran out of road in the capital of pizza on the Campania coast.

Frenchman Martin took ninth place to surge up the overall standings on a day the peloton came home just over three and a half minutes down. Martin is now fourth on GC, 1:06 behind Trek-Sagafredo’s Juan Pedro Lopez, who was forced to shut down a late attack by rival Lennard Kamna of Bora-Hansgrohe.

Spaniard Lopez retains his 38-second lead over Germany’s Kamna on the eve of the second major mountain test of the 105th edition of the Giro – a daunting summit showdown on the infamous Blockhaus climb in the Apennines.

But the day belonged to Lotto Soudal and De Gendt, the 35-year-old veteran who proved their was life in the old dog yet – swooping to his fifth Grand Tour stage win three years after his last win on the Tour de France at Saint-Etienne.

“Today was one of those days which suited me. It was always up and down and hard to recover, but it’s also hard to close the gap,” De Gendt said.

“Ten years after the Stelvio stage I finally win a stage in the Giro again. If you’d asked me two weeks ago if I was able to win a stage on the Giro I would have said no because I was in such bad shape. But now the good legs are coming.”

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Ten years after his historic win on the Stelvio, Thomas De Gendt soared to a second Giro d’Italia stage win with an emphatic victory on the streets of Naples thanks to a little help from his Belgian compatriot and teammate Harm Vanhoucke.

The Lotto Soudal duo were part of a four-man move that extricated itself from a stellar breakaway that featured a third Lotto Soudal rider in Sylvain Moniquet as well as the likes of Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix), Biniam Girmay (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert) and Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates).

On an absorbing 153km circuit race that had the feel of a mini world championships, the day’s breakaway built up a maximum lead of over four minutes during four lumpy loops around Bacoli, the picturesque peninsula to the west of Naples.

Despite the quartet’s lead coming down to just 10 seconds over chasing duo Van der Poel and Girmay as the riders entered the final kilometre, the four leaders held on to contest the win with De Gendt launching himself from team-mate Vanhoucke’s wheel to hold off Italy’s Davide Gaburro (Bardiani-CSF) and Spain’s Jorge Arcas (Movistar).

The Belgian breakaway specialist’s emphatic burst to the line ensured that the remaining three riders of the move will have to wait another day for their first ever pro win – not that fourth-place Vanhoucke looked too concerned after he punched the air behind to celebrate his team-mate’s victory.

“I was working for Harm so he could attack on the final climb,” De Gendt revealed after the 17th win of his career. “But he said he didn’t have good legs anymore so I told him to ride full gas on the last three kilometres because I was sure I would win the sprint. He did it perfectly until a few hundred metres to go so I have to thank Harm a lot that he could pull this result off for me. We did a good job as a team today.”

Eritrea’s Girmay took fifth place at 15 seconds ahead of Switzerland’s Mauro Schmid (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) and the Dutchman Van der Poel, whose early swashbuckling solo attack at the start of the stage provided the springboard for the day’s 21-man move to form.

It was Van der Poel’s subsequent attack on the third of four ascents of Monte di Procida on the penultimate lap with 46km remaining which caused the first major shake-out in the breakaway and paved the way for De Gendt and Vanhoucke to put in the decisive counter-attack.

A quintet of Van der Poel, Girmay, Schmid, Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious) and Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) formed behind but the four riders stretched their lead to 40 seconds on the run back from Bacoli towards the centre of Naples.

And despite a late effort from Van der Poel and Girmay – the two riders who finished first and second on the opening stage of the race – the chasing duo ultimately ran out of road in the capital of pizza on the Campania coast.

Frenchman Martin took ninth place to surge up the overall standings on a day the peloton came home just over three and a half minutes down. Martin is now fourth on GC, 1:06 behind Trek-Sagafredo’s Juan Pedro Lopez, who was forced to shut down a late attack by rival Lennard Kamna of Bora-Hansgrohe.

Spaniard Lopez retains his 38-second lead over Germany’s Kamna on the eve of the second major mountain test of the 105th edition of the Giro – a daunting summit showdown on the infamous Blockhaus climb in the Apennines.

But the day belonged to Lotto Soudal and De Gendt, the 35-year-old veteran who proved their was life in the old dog yet – swooping to his fifth Grand Tour stage win three years after his last win on the Tour de France at Saint-Etienne.

“Today was one of those days which suited me. It was always up and down and hard to recover, but it’s also hard to close the gap,” De Gendt said.

“Ten years after the Stelvio stage I finally win a stage in the Giro again. If you’d asked me two weeks ago if I was able to win a stage on the Giro I would have said no because I was in such bad shape. But now the good legs are coming.”

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