Giro d'Italia (st. 7)

Ecuadorian climber from Movistar Team (11th overall) out of trouble on stage six of 'Corsa Rosa', won by Sam Bennett (BOH).

Irish sprinter Sam Bennett (BOH) bested ‘maglia ciclamino’ holder Elia Viviani (QST) at the end of the 159km stage seven in the 2018 Giro d’Italia (Pizzo to Praia a Mare), the calmest so far in this year’s ‘Corsa Rosa’ and a happy day for Richard Carapaz (Movistar Team), who conserved the Maglia Bianca he brilliantly took over on Thursday’s Etna climb.

The Ecuadorian climber finished inside a main peloton of 80 riders after completing the final section of today’s route well supported by his Blue team-mates, staying just next to the top-ten in the overall standings -he now ranks 11th, 1’23” behind Simon Yates (MTS)-. In turn, Colombian Carlos Betancur conceded just over twenty seconds against that leading group, and sits in 15th place overall, 1’44” behind the Maglia Rosa.

The two Latin American riders and Spaniards Rafa Valls, the most solid Movistar Team contenders in the mountains so far in this Giro, will be facing another two challenges this weekend, south of the Apennines, with stages both exceeding 200km. Saturday will bring the long, gentle climb of Montevergine di Mercogliano (Cat-2), following 209km of otherwise easy roads before reaching Salerno, 50km before the end, and facing the last climb.

Picture (c): BettiniPhoto.net