Giro d’Italia: Pascal Ackermann sprints to Giro stage win

German stage victory at the Giro d’Italia: Pascal Ackermann secured success in the mass sprint on the 11th stage. It was a blink of an eye finale. The young Jonathan Milan was beaten by millimeters.

The final was a super exciting affair for the sprinters. After a fall in the field two kilometers before the finish line on the long home straight caused a clear group of leaders, Mads Pedersen was the first to start the sprint.

Pedersen opened, Ackermann completed

Mark Cavendish already passed in his slipstream, with Pascal Ackermann stuck to his rear wheel. The 29-year-old German passed Cavendish and already looked like the sure winner. On the other side of the road, however, the young Italian Jonathan Milan suddenly shot up, although his start was seconds too late.

“It’s an absolutely special victory for me,” said Ackermann happily at the finish. “I was already doing well in the last sprints, but didn’t have the right team support. I’m all the happier that it worked out today,” says Ackermann.

“From now on I will fly”

“It was very nervous. I followed Mark Cavendish’s rear wheel for orientation. It was so tight. I’m just happy that I was able to show that I’m still there. I’m looking from day to day now. From now on I will fly,” said Ackermann. The 22-year-old Marius Mayrhofer again showed a strong sprint and finished seventh.

Bad crashes – co-favorite Hart is eliminated

About 70 kilometers from the finish, the race for the next favorite for overall victory was involuntarily over. Leader Geraint Thomas fell, causing third-placed teammate Tao Geoghegan Hart to fall as well. The 2020 Giro winner fell hard on his left side and was taken away by ambulance. Thomas is two seconds ahead of Slovenian Primoz Roglic in the overall standings. Lennard Kämna is sixth, 1:52 behind Thomas.

On Sunday, overall leader Remco Evenepoel had already left the race because of a positive corona test. On Wednesday, his team Soudal-QuickStep reported four more cases. Jan Hirt, Josef Cerny, Louis Vervaeke and Mattia Cattaneo tested positive for the corona virus. From Team AG2R Andrea Vendrame had to retire with Covid-19, from Team Corratec Stefano Gandin. A total of 15 riders have already left the Giro due to Covid diseases.