The Frenchman was hit by a short header from the Australian at the top of the ninth stage of the Giro on Sunday.
Roman Bardet came close to completing a Triumph of victory in each of the Big Three. In his first race, Auvergnat failed to win on top of the Blockhaus, peace judge on Sunday’s ninth stage, as Australian Guy Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) settled in a six-jogger sprint, 1,665 metres.
Far ahead, Spaniard Juan Pedro Lopez (Trek) held his pink jersey for 12 seconds, ahead of Portugal’s Joao Almeida. For the win, Hindley fired the race from distance and outpaced Bardet and Ecuadorean Olympic champion Richard Carapaz. Spaniard Mikel Landa came fourth, ahead of Almeida and veteran Italian Domenico Pozovovo (39). In the general classification, there are now five riders (Lopez, Almeida, Bardet, Carapaz, Hindley) in the 20-second range on the eve of Pescara’s rest day.
Leaving Simon Yates behind
On this 191-kilometer stage, Italian Diego Rosa came close to the final climb to the top, ahead of three rebounding forwards (Peters, Dombrowski, Sepulveda), after the downfall of Eritrean Natnael Tesfatsion who had taken a straight lead in the previous drop, without major physical consequences. But the gap, which was less than two minutes on the favorites’ stadium, melted even before the long and difficult climb of Blockhaus (13.6 km by 8.4%).
Leaving Italy’s Giulio Ciccone and Britain’s Simon Yates on the first slopes. Lopez lost contact after a collision 8 km from the summit but saved the essentials. Hindley, 26, won the Giro stage for the second time, and finished second in the final rankings in 2020, having been defeated by Britain’s Tao Geoghegan Hart on just the last day.
