Tratnik earns first Giro stage win
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SAN DANIELE DEL FRIULI, Italy, Oct 20, (AP): Jan Tratnik earned his first stage victory in a Grand Tour by winning the 16th leg of the Giro d’Italia on Tuesday, and João Almeida held onto the pink jersey.
Tratnik, a Slovenian rider with the Bahrain-McLaren team, beat Ben O’Connor by seven seconds at the end of the hilly 229-kilometer (142-mile) route from Udine to San Daniele del Friuli.
Neither of them had ever won a stage in a Grand Tour and both entered the final stretch together. However, it was Tratnik who crossed the line first, with his arms outstretched and tears streaming down his face. O’Connor thumped the handlebars in frustration.
“I attacked so far from the finish and the last climb was very hard,” the 30-year-old Tratnik said. “I didn’t think I could do it, but in the end, it was a perfect day.
“We are close to the Slovenian border so today my brother and my girlfriend were here. Five hundred meters from the finish I saw my girlfriend and I found some extra
CYCLING
energy that allowed me to win.”
Enrico Battaglin was third, 1:14 behind his Bahrain-McLaren teammate.
All three were part of a large breakaway of 30 riders who escaped early in the stage on the first of six classified climbs.
Tratnik launched a decisive counterattack on the second of three finishing circuits over the Monte di Ragogna and appeared to be on his way to a solo attack before O’Connor caught up to him on the last ascent.
Almeida led the group of overall favorites, nearly 13 minutes after Tratnik, and increased his lead slightly after attacking in the final two kilometers (1.2 miles).
The Portuguese cyclist, who rides for the Deceuninck-Quick Step team, is 17 seconds ahead of Wilco Kelderman.
“Sometimes the best defense is to attack,” Almeida said. “In the end I was feeling good and I attacked, gaining a few seconds. It went well.”
Jai Hindley is third, 2:58 behind Almeida.
Colombian sprinter Fernando Gaviria withdrew from the race before the start of the stage after becoming the latest cyclist to test positive for the coronavirus.
Wednesday’s 17th stage is a mountainous 203-kilometer (126-mile) leg from Bassano del Grappo to Madonna di Campiglio. The route features four classified climbs, three of which are the highest category.
The race was rescheduled from its usual May slot because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Giro ends on Sunday with an individual time trial in Milan.
Meanwhile, Colombian sprinter Fernando Gaviria became the latest cyclist to test positive for the coronavirus and be withdrawn from the Giro d’Italia on Tuesday as the race heads toward an uncertain conclusion this weekend.
A staff member for Team AG2R La Mondiale was the only other positive out of 492 tests carried out Sunday and Monday to coincide with the race’s second rest day, organizers RCS Sport said.
The race is scheduled to end Sunday in Milan, the capital of the Lombardy region which is putting in place a nightly curfew beginning Thursday because of a rising number of COVID-19 cases in an area already hard hit during the first wave of infections earlier this year.
Two other stages in the final week of the race are also slated to ride through Lombardy.
Race director Mauro Vegni has said from the start that the race’s greatest achievement would be reaching the finish in Milan. The three-week event was already rescheduled from its usual slot in May because of the pandemic.
Gaviria’s UAE Team Emirates said the rider “was immediately
isolated following the test result and is feeling well and is completely asymptomatic.”
The team noted that Gaviria also had COVID-19 in March.
Gaviria has won five stages at the Giro during his career – four in 2017 and one in 2019, plus two stages at the 2018 Tour de France.