The longest stage of this Italian seven-day race looked beforehand like one of the few opportunities for the sprinters’ teams this week. However, the fast men first had to survive the climb to Petrella del Salto (7 km at 4%) about forty kilometers from the finish. Because there was little interest in breakaway attempts on the rainy day in Italy - apart from attacker Diego Pablo Sevilla - that proved relatively straightforward.

So, attention quickly turned to the bunch sprint in the streets of Magliano de' Marsi. Team Visma | Lease a Bike stayed out of the sprint battle, with all the seven riders safely crossing the finish line in the peloton. The stage win went to Tobias Lund Andresen. At the top of the general classification nothing changed, with Jorgenson still in seventh place overall.

Sports director Jesper Mørkøv looks back on the stage with satisfaction. “We rode a good stage today. The course itself was relatively easy, although the weather conditions made it a bit more tricky. Our plan was to try to pick up a few bonus seconds with Matteo.”

“That just didn’t work out because the sprinters’ teams were also contesting them. After that, it was up to the team to guide Matteo safely to the finish, and they did that very well. Compliments to the guys. Tomorrow brings another opportunity, but it will be a tougher stage with several climbs along the way”, Mørkøv concludes.