Visma | Lease a Bike sees Simon Yates suddenly move up to 2nd in the Giro: "An important day for the GC awaits"

Steven Kruijswijk controlled the race all day on behalf of Visma | Lease a Bike, which was well-positioned at the front when Antonio Tiberi (Lidl-Trek) slipped and took part of the peloton down with him. Since the gap to the early break — eventually won by Kasper Asgreen (EF Education–EasyPost) — was already getting tight, Visma | Lease a Bike decided to continue the chase.

Olav Kooij ultimately finished third and couldn't get the stage win he was aiming for. Meanwhile, Wout van Aert, right after the finish, dismissed suggestions that Visma | Lease a Bike had taken advantage of the injuries of some of Yates’ rivals. Van Aert stated clearly that the peloton also creates its own danger with the way it races in the final phases.

Team director Marc Reef looked back on the stage on the team’s website. “In the narrow streets of Nova Gorica, everyone wanted to be at the front. That ultimately caused the crash. It's a real shame that had to happen. Simon is now second in the GC, but of course that’s not the way we wanted it to happen.”

“No one wants to see riders lose valuable seconds due to bad luck. Unfortunately, that’s part of cycling. Fortunately for us, we were in the right place this time. Now our focus shifts to tomorrow (with the stage over Monte Grappa coming up, ed.), where another important day for the general classification lies ahead,” said Reef.