An Eritrean on Tuesday became the first black rider in Africa to win a Grand Tour stage.
The 22-year-old athlete accidentally received in his eye the cap of the giant bottle that he was going to open on the ceremonial podium at Jesi.
He was cured in the hospital, in an excellent manner according to his Doctor of Intermarché training, and joined the hotel in Riccione early in the evening, where a small party was organized in his honour.
The Belgian team had chosen to wait until the morning to make a decision on the continuation of the Giro for the African bloc.
It is indicated in the team footnote that the choice to abandon the race was made out of prudence. More short-term eye exams are scheduled for Girmay, who left the hotel on Wednesday morning with his manager after greeting his teammates and support staff.
Within a few months, he became one of the big names in the international peloton. The first African runner to put his name on the list of winners in a classic (Ghent-Wevelgem at the end of March), especially after his victory over French Christophe Laporte, established himself among the best runners.
Second in the opening stage of the Giro in Hungary after Matteo van der Poel, he dominated the Dutchman in a long sprint at the end of the tenth stage.
In the points classification, he was three points behind the cyclops shirt wearer of the best sprinter, France’s Arnaud Demarie.
On the line, Van der Poel gave his thumbs up before congratulating the winner.
The Dutchman almost became the victim of a violent traffic jam during the official ceremony that followed his success on the stage. But he received a cork on one shoulder without taking the injury as seriously as the Eritrean.
Girmay, who joined Team Intermarche in the spring of 2021 after turning professional the previous year with France’s Delco, rose to prominence last season by winning the silver medal in the Under-23 Worlds in Louvain, Belgium.
The first Italian victory
Alberto Dainese (DSM) won stage 11 of the sprint race on Wednesday in Reggio Emilia.
Dainez, who had never won a Giro d’Italia before, beat Colombian Fernando Gaviria and another Italian, Simone Conzoni.
Frenchman Arnaud Demare, winner of the previous two races, finished fourth.
Spaniard Juan Pedro Lopez (Trek) retained the leader’s pink jersey after this 203-kilometer stage without any difficulty in resting, but it’s hot and windy.
Ecuadorean Richard Carapaz took an extra three seconds in the middle race to secure a place in the provisional standings and move up to second, tied with Portugal’s Joao Almeida, 12 seconds behind Lopez.
At a point when temperatures reached 30 degrees, the peloton mostly rode together except for two riders (Rastelli and Taglioni) who joined shortly after the halfway point at the exit from Bologna.
58 kilometers from the finish, Belgian Dries De Bondt embarked on a solo raid that ended just 1,300 meters from the line.
On the final fill, Demar drove a long distance and was overtaken by Gaviria, who was overtaken by Demir himself who took full advantage of the slipstream.
The 24-year-old Italian grabbed the third win of his career. Last year, he finished second on the Vueltaa stage, behind Dutchman Fabio Jacobsen.
Thursday, the twelfth stage, the longest in the Giro, crosses the Apennines mountain range, from Parma to Genoa, at a distance of more than 204 kilometers. The trail has three listed climbs that are favorable for the adventurous despite the relatively flatness of the last 30 kilometres.
