14/05/2024

Giro d'Italia: Valentin Paret-Peintre takes first pro win atop Bocca della Selva summit finish as Romain Bardet re-enters GC fight

Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team has been having a stupendous season and they take another win at the Giro d'Italia on stage 10. Valentin Paret-Peintre confirmed his potential and took a very strong win from the breakaway.

The start of the stage saw Alessandro De Marchi, Simon Clarke and Quinten Hermans attack off the front of the peloton but the flat roads didn't allow for any big group to go up the road. Most knew it was a day for the breakaway, and dozens of riders looked to take advantage of it.

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Only almost halfway through the stage, as the riders found some gradients on the road, did a group form. Hermans dropped, whilst 25 riders formed a chasing group (eventually the head of the race) including the likes of Romain Bardet, Juan Pedro López, Esteban Chaves and Filippo Zana - potential outsiders for the overall classification.

The peloton began to lose time as UAE did not look to keep the gap much under control. Bahrain - Victorious was the team that did the most work in the peloton towards the final hour of racing, but the victory was to be decided in the breakaway.

With 35 kilometers to go Jan Tratnik launched an attack off the front of the group. It looked rather meaningless against such a strong group, but the gap grew and then remained stable as the chasing group entered the final climb and began to split. Marco Frigo, Valentin Paret-Peintre, Romain Bardet and Juan Pedro López formed a chasing quartet.

Paret-Peintre, of these, was ultimately the strongest and after Frigo was dropped, so was López and ultimately Bardet. The Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team rider flew past Jan Tratnik and into the head of the race, to take his first pro win atop the climb to Bocca della Selva. Romain Bardet finished second on the day, climbing significantly up the overall classification, whilst Jan Tratnik survived and finished third.

In the peloton Ben O'Connor led the group in followed by Daniel Martínez, Geraint Thomas and Tadej Pogacar; but there weren't any meaningful gaps behind.