Aru impressed with the team spirit

UAE Team Emirates’ Fabio Aru secured a top 10 finish in what was a thrilling day of racing at the Giro d’Italia. Working closely with his teammates, Marco Marcato and Diego Ulissi, the trio managed to avoid the effects of a late crash which occurred in the head positions of the peloton, with Aru crossing the line just 27 seconds behind the stage winner – a result which puts the Italian National Champion into the top 10 of the General Classification (GC).

Stage 11 offered a chance for the all-rounders to gain the extra seconds as the peloton tackled a rolling course that saw a number of breakaway attempts foiled by the main group. With 143km to go, an eight-man breakaway managed to build up a short gap from the peloton, but were quickly reigned in with just two riders managing to keep ahead of the chasing pack. With 5km to go, aggressive attacks eventually brought in the pair, but pink jersey wearer Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) managed to break clear, battling it out with fellow GC contender Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) – Yates emerging victorious and taking home the stage win.

Commenting on the team’s performance, Aru (photo Bettini) said: “My great thanks today to my team mates. When Woods crashed in the approach of the penultimate hill, the head of the group split and Marcato and Ulissi  worked impressively to support me in bridging the gap from the leading positions. This shows that I really can rely on a good team. Congrats to Yates, it’s never easy to win wearing the pink jersey“.

Tomorrow’s Stage 12 will see riders face a predominantly flat, 214km route from Osimo to Imola. The peloton won’t face too many difficult challenges on their journey, although the Tre Monti climb – a 7.6km ascent just 15km from the finish could catch out any riders suffering from fatigue. However, should the group make it over in one bunch, we could be on for a mesmerising down-hill sprint finish.

Stage 11 results
1 Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) 3h25’53”
2 Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) 2″
3 Davide Formolo (Bora-hansgrohe) 5″
10 Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates) 21″

General classification after stage 11
1 Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) 47h08’21”
2 Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) 47″
3 Thibau Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) 1’04”
10 Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates) 3’10”