He started the final climb near the INEOS Grenadiers riders who set a strong pace up the Appennine ascent, and looked relatively comfortable as many cracked in the back of the group. His time loss in his home region meant that he couldn't climb onto the Top10, however the overall classification appears to still be a goal for the 37-year old.
"It was a very hot day, maybe the first really hot day of this Giro, so many riders were suffering because of it. Also, the stage turned out to be a real challenge with D+ over 5000 meters, looks like many years passed since the Giro had a stage of 5000 meters of elevation. However, I think, it was a good stage for us, and now I am happy that we are heading into the rest day, which will bring us a possibility to recover a bit," he concluded. As a Grand Tour specialist, and leader of the
Astana Qazaqstan Team, it is possible that he will keep testing himself in the coming weeks, and play a role in the fight for the Top10 as the race enters the Alps later on.