The last week of the Giro d'Italia begins with fireworks. After the general grumbling for the lack of competition of the big names in the three stages before the stop, the 16th fraction closed with the climb to Bondone returned enthusiasm to the fans, who saw all the ranking men engaged in the hunt for an important result. As expected, the first to pay the price was Bruno Armirail, who raised the white flag on the last climb, returning the pink jersey to Thomas. The Briton dictated the pace in the decisive stages and the only one to keep up with him was Joao Almeida, who also beat him in a sprint at the finish line and is now chasing him in the standings, while Primoz Roglic finished third but almost half a minute, the same gap he now has in the general classification.
On the podium were evident the joy of Almeida, who won his victory in a grand tour, and the restful satisfaction of the Welsh expert, who will turn 37 next Thursday and should celebrate them again in pink, given that tomorrow's stage, the Pergine Valsugana-Caorle, is suitable for sprinters. "A special victory, a dream come true. I was fine, the team was extraordinary - said the 24-year-old Almeida - With Thomas we collaborated to put second between us and Roglic, but then my main goal was the stage victory".
"It was a very hard day, many climbs, I'm happy with how it went - said Thomas - I found a good understanding with Almeida, who was better at the sprint. I'm not surprised, it's very strong and will be counted for the final success, but I'm ready to fight day after day to keep the pink jersey as long as possible," he concluded. The classification says that Thomas is now 18 seconds ahead of Almeida and 29 seconds ahead of Roglic, while the fourth in the standings, Damiano Caruso, seventh at the finish line, is 2'50 seconds behind.
A three-way challenge for the final victory is therefore looming, which passes through the terrible Dolomite triptych scheduled from Thursday to Saturday. Today's stage saw the now famous parade of escapes, but contrary to what happened until last Sunday, about fifty kilometers from the finish line, the battleships Jumbo Visma, Uae and Ineos moved, closing the accounts with the last fugitives when the climb to Bondone began to get harder. The French Thibaut Pinot - delayed by a fall - and above all Armirail, who after trying to defend the jersey and the honor surrendered to the interminable climb, closing with a delay of four minutes. Almeida (UAE), Roglic with teammate Kuss (Jumbo), and Thomas, with Eddie Dunbar as uncomfortable, found themselves elbow to elbow. The first to lag behind the forcing of the Portuguese and the Welshman was the Slovenian, but thanks to Kuss he managed not to sink completely, then Dunbar also gave up, leaving room for the final duel. Barring any surprises tomorrow, the challenge will start again on Thursday with the Oderzo-Val di Zoldo, with two climbs in the final suitable for new sorties.