Cycling: Georg Steinhauser secured his stage victory at the Giro d'Italia. The German was initially part of a breakaway group, then a duo and finally, as a soloist on the Passo Brocon, he was able to celebrate his first day's victory on a Grand Tour.
Steinhauser just doesn't give up and is rewarded
He came so close to his stage win when he finished third in Livigno two days ago. Now it has finally worked. George Steinhauser (EF Education – EasyPost) won the 159 kilometer section from Selva di Val Gardena to Passo Brocon. The 22-year-old son of ex-professional Tobias Steinhauser and the nephew of Jan Ullrich can look forward to his first victory of the day on his first major national tour. And he deserved it because he was active throughout the day and didn't let any group leave without being there himself. In the overall ranking could Tadej pogacar (UAE) to further expand its lead. Between Daniel Martinez (Bora – hansgrohe) and Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) there were no time intervals.
Fight for the first breakaway group
Things went uphill straight from the start today. Unsurprisingly, numerous attacks ensured a high pace in the peloton, which was already decimated after just a few kilometers. Even over the crest and in the very long descent of the Passo Sella that followed, the racing didn't calm down at first. After a long fight, ten drivers were able to break away, including the German again George Steinhauser (EF Education – EasyPost). Only then did the pace in the favorites group slow down a little, so that some riders who had already been left behind were able to rejoin the group of favorites. But UAE Team Emirates didn't give the escape group a really big lead today.
The composition of today's breakaway group
- George Steinhauser (EF Education – EasyPost)
- Marco Frigo (Israel – Premier Tech)
- Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Lidl – Trek)
- Nairo Quintana (movistar)
- Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal – Quick Step)
- Giulio Pellizzari (VF Group – Bardiani CSF – Faizanè)
- David Ballerini (Astana)
- Damian Caruso (Bahrain-Victorious)
- Nicola Conci (Alpecin – Deceuninck)
- Attila Valter (Visma – Lease a Bike)
DSM chases after the group
But it wasn't just the UAE Team Emirates that was responsible for the fact that the ten outliers were not given a big lead. During the course of the stage, the Dutch team dsm-unternehmenich PostNL also joined in the tracking work. The lead fell to less than a minute. Settled at the foot of Passo Gobbera Romain Bardet (dsm-unternehmenich PostNL) launched his attack, but the man in pink stayed right on the rear wheel - and the peloton broke up into many small groups. Of course, this was anything but good for the breakaway group. It was therefore set again over 60 kilometers from the finish. But the escape was definitely worth it Giulio Pellizzari (VF Group – Bardiani CSF – Faizanè). The Italian won the mountain classifications on the Passo Sella and Passo Rolle. He puts that behind him Tadej pogacar (UAE) in a good position in the mountain classification.
Ghebreigzabhier and Steinhauser attack again
Felt really good today Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Lidl-Trek). After catching up, the Eritrean simply attacked again. Also George Steinhauser (EF Education – EasyPost) did not want to accept that the escape had failed. This time as a duo they emerged from the favorite group. But the dsm-unternehmenich PostNL team didn't give up and increased the pace again up the Passo Brocon. Later the Soudal – Quick-Step team also got involved. But the gap continued to grow. And shortly before the summit, the German climber was even able to leave his companion behind. From then on Steinhauser worked as a soloist. He won the mountains classification with a lead of around 30 seconds over Ghebreigzabhier and had a cushion of around two minutes on the peloton.
Pogacar attacks on the final climb
Once in the valley, the route led up the Passo Brocon again - this time on the other side. With a lead of 2:30 minutes over the favorite group George Steinhauser (EF Education – EasyPost) actually dream of winning the stage. The teams that were previously behind seemed to have given up on their endeavor. Only the Ineos Grenadiers team could be seen at the front of the decimated peloton, although the British team probably had no ambitions to catch up with Steinhauser. Rather, they wanted to race for important seconds in the GC. However, 2,5 kilometers from the finish Daniel Martinez (Bora – hansgrohe) the first attack. At this point the gap to Steinhauser was still 2:30 minutes. But then came Tadej pogacar (UAE). The Slovenian actually wanted to play for his teammate today Rafal Mayka (UAE). However, when he signaled that he no longer had the strength for it, the man in pink got out of the saddle. But it wasn't enough for him anymore. Not this time. Victory is on George Steinhauser (EF Education – EasyPost)!
GEORG STEINHAUSER GANA LA ETAPA 17 #GirodItalia | #Winner #Trenitalia | @EFprocycling pic.twitter.com/MAGC3WetyW
— Huesitos de la communication (@Christo_crazy) May 22, 2024