A Dane lands the Grand Tour triple in Naples

On Thursday, the Dane Mads Pedersen became the 104th rider to achieve the triple of a stage win in all three Grand Tours. He won the spectacular stage in and around Naples.

11 May 2023

From: dpa/apa/fop

The trek professional joined the peloton, which caught up with the two outliers Simon Clarke (AUS) and Alessandro de Marchi (ITA) 300 meters from the finish, after 3:44:45 hours and 162 km with start and finish Naples through.

The Italian Jonathan Milan and the German Pascal Ackermann landed in the sixth section of the 106th Giro d'Italia.

Norwegian Andreas Leknessund continues to wear the pink jersey, 28 seconds ahead of road cycling world champion Remco Evenepoel. He apparently coped well with the two painful falls from the previous day and reached the finish without wasting any time.

Remco Evenepoel showed his footballing skills with a Napoli ball. © ANSA / ZEN

The young Belgian star was first brought down by a dog on Wednesday, then shortly before the finish he was hit again. “I have pain in my back and some big bruises. I have a big black spot on my back that is made of blood," said the 23-year-old, who reassured: "That's life, that's cycling. We have to deal with that. I slept well at night.”

Now the Gran Sasso is waiting

On Friday, the first mountain finish in Gran Sasso d'Italia at an altitude of 2130 meters will show whether the big favorite is actually in full possession of his strength. Then the German peripheral hope Lennard Kämna also has to prove himself. After a bumpy opening time trial, the former junior world champion is currently 1:54 minutes behind Leknessund in the overall standings.

In contrast to the previous day, the field was spared from spectacular falls on Thursday in dry conditions. However, due to the poor road conditions, there were repeated defects. Olympic time trial champion Primoz Roglic (Slovenia) and British former tour winner Geraint Thomas were also affected.

Schlagwörter: cycling Tour of Italy Naples Mads pedersen