Alberto Dainese (DSM) became the first Italian winner in this year’s Giro d’Italia when he edged the sprint to take stage 11 in Reggio Emilia on Wednesday. Dainese, 24, who had never previously won a stage in the Giro, beat the  Colombian Fernando Gaviria in the dash for the finish. Another Italian Simone Consonni took third. The Spaniard Juan Pedro Lopez (Trek) retained the leader’s pink jersey after a 126 mile stage which was relatively comfortable other than the heat and wind. Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz, however, pocketed three bonus seconds in an intermediate sprint to climb two places into second, equal in time with the Portuguese Joao Almeida, 12 seconds behind Lopez.

Eritrea’s Biniam Girmay, who on Tuesday became the first black African to win a stage at the Giro, pulled out before the start following a podium accident after his win. The unfortunate Girmay was hit in the left eye by a prosecco cork whilecelebrating his historic stage victory. Intermarche’s team doctor Piet Daneels said tests showed “haemorrhage inthe anterior chamber of the left eye”.

With temperatures hitting 90 degrees, the peloton largely stuck together apart from one wishful breakaway by Luca Rastelli and Filippo Tagliani which was reeled in just after halfway. Belgian Dries De Bondt embarked on a solo raid 35 miles from the finish, which ended just 1,300 meters from the line.

In the sprint, French rider Arnaud Demare, who already has two stage wins this Giro, attacked from deep. He was hunted down by Gaviria before Dainese, taking full advantage of the slipstream, came through to take the third victory of his career. Last year, he finished second in a Vuelta stage, behind Dutchman FabioJakobsen.

The peloton faces its longest day in the saddle on Thursday with a mountainous 12th stage over 127 miles which crosses the Apennines from Parma to Genoa.

GIRO D’ITALIA 2022 STAGE 11 RESULTS

1	Alberto DAINESE	Team DSM	4:19:04
2	Fernando GAVIRIA	UAE Team Emirates	0:00
3	Simone CONSONNI	Cofidis	0:00
4	Arnaud DÉMARE	Groupama – FDJ	0:00
5	Caleb EWAN	Lotto Soudal	0:00
6	Mark CAVENDISH	Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team	0:00
7	Edward THEUNS	Trek – Segafredo	0:00
8	SachaMODOLO	Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè	0:00
9	Phil BAUHAUS	Bahrain – Victorious	0:00
10	Lawrence NAESEN	AG2R Citroën Team	0:00

GIRO D’ITALIA 2022 STANDINGS

1	Juan LÓPEZ	Trek – Segafredo	46:43:12
2	Richard CARAPAZ	INEOS Grenadiers	0:12
3	Joao ALMEIDA	UAE Team Emirates	0:12
4	Romain BARDET	Team DSM	0:14
5	Jai HINDLEY	BORA – hansgrohe	0:20
6	Guillaume MARTIN	Cofidis	0:28
7	Mikel LANDA	Bahrain – Victorious	0:29
8	Domenico POZZOVIVO	Intermarché – Wanty – Gobert Matériaux	0:54
9	Emanuel BUCHMANN	BORA – hansgrohe	1:09
10	Pello BILBAO	Bahrain – Victorious	1:22

 

RBA/AFP Photos: Sprint Cycling Agency