The sprint is his exclusive domain in the Giro 2020: the French champion Arnaud Démare won for the fourth time, Wednesday in Rimini (east), at the finish of the 11th stage.
First Arnaud Démare, second Peter Sagan.
For the third time, the order of finish turned in favor of Picard of the Groupama-FDJ team who won against the Slovak by half a bike gap.
Better still, the four massive sprints gave the same winner, the first Frenchman since Bernard Hinault in 1982 to win four stages in the same edition of the Giro.
With the difference that the Breton champion also won the final classification.
“Today was a perfect sprint,” said Démare after his 14th success of the year, the 75th of his career.
However, his team lost two riders, Benjamin Thomas and the Dutchman Ramon Sinkeldam.
But she was able to adapt behind her leader, beaming with confidence in the season of her full development at the age of 29.
"The young people (Kilian Frankiny, Simon Guglielmi) did a big job to get back on the breakaway", detailed Démare about the breakaway of five riders launched shortly after the start of the 182 kilometers.
The Belgian Sander Armée, his last survivor, held out until 6 kilometers from the finish, as he approached Rimini, the city of the “maestro” of the cinema Federico Fellini.
“The guys got a bit overwhelmed at the entrance to town.
But they gradually recovered, turn after turn.
Then + Kono + (Konovalovas) did an exceptional job ”, explained the French champion who also paid tribute to the Australian Miles Scotson and, of course, to his Italian“ pitcher ”Jacopo Guarnieri whom he hugged for a long time afterwards. the arrival.
A sprint off!
“The hardest part was done every 2 kilometers when we came back in good position.
Then we started, the train was on.
We were really in a very good position, which allowed Jacopo to make his effort in the 400 meters, he was even more explosive than usual, ”said Démare.
The Frenchman was even able to deliver, as on the track, a sprint taken off, that is to say to leave a small gap behind another rider to then take advantage of the aspiration.
In the points classification, symbolized by the wearing of the cyclamen jersey, Démare regained the lead over Sagan, who had come closer after his spectacular number on Tuesday on the roads leading to Tortoreto.
He increased his lead to 36 points over the Slovakian, his only rival.
The third (Filippo Ganna) points to ... 169 points of the French.
The general classification, still led by the Portuguese Joao Almeida, remained unchanged after this lowland stage, carried most often by a favorable wind along the Adriatic, at nearly 45 km / h on average, until Rimini , where the Giro had not arrived for sixty years.
Thursday, the route of the 12th stage takes again uneven roads, with five climbs listed in the hinterland of Romagna, of the cyclo-sportive des “Nove Colli”.
The start and finish are scheduled in Cesenatico, the city of the "Pirate" Marco Pantani, the winner of the Giro and the 1998 Tour who died tragically, by overdose, on February 14, 2004, Valentine's Day, in Rimini.
Read also
Tour of Italy: Sagan ends more than a year of famine