Giro d’Italia: Ciccone solos to Alpine breakaway win on stage 15

Image 1 of 35 Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) soloed to victory on stage 15 at the Giro d’Italia (Image credit: Luca Bettini/Michael Steele/Getty Images) Image 2 of 35 Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) on his way to winning stage 15 at the Giro d’Italia (Image credit: Luca Bettini/Getty Images) Image 3 of 35 Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) won from the breakaway on stage 15 (Image credit: Luca Bettini/SprintCyclingAgency©2022) Image 4 of 35 Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli line up by the Trofeo Senza Fine at the stage start (Image credit: Michael SteeleGetty Images) Image 5 of 35 Ineos Grenadiers and new race leader Richard Carapaz at the start (Image credit: Tim de Waele/Michael Steele/Luca Bettini/Getty Sport) Image 6 of 35 The jersey holders line up in Rivarolo Canavese (Image credit: Tim de Waele/Michael Steele/Luca Bettini/Getty Sport) Image 7 of 35 The riders roll out to start stage 15 (Image credit: Tim de Waele/Michael Steele/Luca Bettini/Getty Sport) Image 8 of 35 The peloton pass through a town early on stage 15 (Image credit: Tim de Waele/Michael Steele/Luca Bettini/Getty Sport) Image 9 of 35 An early crash saw Carapaz caught up (Image credit: Tim de Waele/Michael Steele/Luca Bettini/Getty Sport) Image 10 of 35 Carapaz suffered no major injuries, just some dirt on his shoulder, after hitting the grass (Image credit: Luca Bettini/Michael Steele/Getty Images) Image 11 of 35 Sylvain Moniquet (Lotto Soudal), Andrea Vendrame (AG2R Citroen), Anthony Perez (Cofidis) on the attack during the long battle for the breakaway (Image credit: Luca Bettini/Michael Steele/Getty Images) Image 12 of 35 One of the early, unsuccessful, breakaway moves during the 80km battle to get out front (Image credit: Luca Bettini/Michael Steele/Getty Images) Image 13 of 35 The peloton heads towards the Alps on stage 15 (Image credit: Luca Bettini/Michael Steele/Getty Images) Image 14 of 35 Thymen Arensman (DSM) leads Merhawi Kudus (EF-EasyPost) and Lawson Craddock (BikeExchange-Jayco) in the move that ignited the day’s breakaway (Image credit: Luca Bettini/Michael Steele/Getty Images) Image 15 of 35 A rear view of the break of the day as they start climbing (Image credit: Luca Bettini/Michael Steele/Getty Images) Image 16 of 35 Ineos Grenadiers control the peloton after the break went (Image credit: Luca Bettini/Michael Steele/Getty Images) Image 17 of 35 Remy Rochas (Cofidis), Hugh Carthy (EF-EasyPost) and Koen Bouwman (Jumbo-Visma) in the day’s main breakaway (Image credit: Luca Bettini/Michael Steele/Getty Images) Image 18 of 35 The peloton pass a cable car in the mountains (Image credit: Luca Bettini/Michael Steele/Getty Images) Image 19 of 35 A descent, with the Alps looming in the background (Image credit: Luca Bettini/Michael Steele/Getty Images) Image 20 of 35 The peloton head downhill on stage 15 (Image credit: Luca Bettini/Michael Steele/Getty Images) Image 21 of 35 The peloton wind through the countryside ahead of the tough mountains of stage 15 (Image credit: Luca Bettini/Michael Steele/Getty Images) Image 22 of 35 The breakaway mid-stage, with Martijn Tusveld (Team DSM) and Harold Tejada (Astana Qazaqstan) up front (Image credit: Luca Bettini/Michael Steele/Getty Images) Image 23 of 35 Mathieu van der Poel ups the pace on the first climb to Pila (Image credit: Luca Bettini/Michael Steele/Getty Images) Image 24 of 35 Ineos Grenadiers controlled the peloton up the mountains (Image credit: Luca Bettini/Michael Steele/Getty Images) Image 25 of 35 Koen Bouwman (Jumbo-Visma) struck out to take the maglia azzurra on the day’s first mountain (Image credit: Luca Bettini/SprintCyclingAgency©2022) Image 26 of 35 Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) soloed to victory on stage 15 at the Giro d’Italia (Image credit: Luca Bettini/Michael Steele/Getty Images) Image 27 of 35 Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) soloed to victory on stage 15 at the Giro d’Italia (Image credit: Luca Bettini/Michael Steele/Getty Images) Image 28 of 35 Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) finishing stage 15 at the Giro d’Italia (Image credit: Getty Images) Image 29 of 35 Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) finishing stage 15 at the Giro d’Italia (Image credit: Getty Images) Image 30 of 35 Antonio Pedrero Lopez third on stage 15 (Image credit: Getty Images) Image 31 of 35 Antonio Pedrero Lopez third on stage 15 (Image credit: Getty Images) Image 32 of 35 Hugh Carthy finishes 4th on stage 15 (Image credit: Getty Images) Image 33 of 35 Guillaume Martin was 10th on stage 15 (Image credit: Getty Images) Image 34 of 35 Santiago Buitrago was second on stage 15 (Image credit: Getty Images) Image 35 of 35 Santiago Buitrago crosses the finish line in second place (Image credit: Getty Images) Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) won stage 15 of the Giro d’Italia after a firing off an exhausting string of accelerations on the final climb to Cogne that left former breakaway companions Hugh Carthy (EF Education – EasyPost) and Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) scrambling to limit their losses. The 22-year-old Italian made the decisive move with 18km to go, riding away from Carthy, on the category 2 climb’s steeper gradients. After Ciccone established a strong 1:33 lead on Buitrago, who caught and passed a drained Carthy moments after the Italian went up the road, his race win was never in question. The emotional Trek-Segafredo rider had time to celebrate his third win at the Giro d’Italia after a frustrating three years of personal disappointment. Buitrago took second at 1:31, and Antonio Pedrero (Movistar Team) was third at 2:19. “The steep part of the climb was at the beginning, in my mind I say, ‘OK, if I go alone here I can arrive alone,’” Ciccone said after the stage. “Otherwise, with two of three riders, you never know what can happen. I tried here today because my legs were really good. It was the best choice that I made. “I think this has been my most beautiful victory, even better than the yellow jersey at the tour de France. This has an indescribable value for me,” Ciccone said. Despite crashing earlier in the stage, Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) finished the stage to retain the pink jersey ahead of the second rest day. The Ecuadorian leads the maglia rosa competition seven seconds ahead of Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) and 30 seconds in front of best young rider João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates). How it unfolded After the 4.6km neutral section, Matthew Holmes (Lotto Soudal) was the first to attack the peloton of 159 riders and, interestingly, was trailed by an active Arnaud Démare (Groupama – FDJ). They were quickly brought back, and more attacks followed before a touch of wheels caused a mid-pack pile-up involving the maglia rosa, Richard Carapaz (Ineos), at kilometre six. However, it didn’t take long for Ineos to escort their race leader back into the bunch. The attempts to get up the road didn’t let up, and familiar breakaway names Alessandro Covi (UAE Team Emirates), Harm Vanhoucke (Lotto Soudal) and Clément Davy (Groupama – FDJ) made a jump that gained some momentum for a few kilometres, but that too was eventually defused with 160km to go. The mounting fatigue of the last two weeks of racing was evident as teams like Jumbo-Visma and Astana Qazaqstan Team and Israel – Premier Tech continued to send riders up the road, but nothing materialized until kilometre 40 when Lennard Kämna (Bora – Hansgrohe), Alessandro Tonelli (Bardiani CSF Faizanè), Sylvain Moniquet (Lotto Soudal), Andrea Vendrame (Ag2r Citroën Team) and Anthony Perez (Cofidis) found some daylight between themselves and the peloton. The bunch didn’t give in on this group easily and held the five riders at just 20 seconds for about 15km before shutting it down with 115km to go. Things started settling down after Thymen Arensman (Team DSM), Merhawi Kudus (EF Education – EasyPost), Rémy Rochas (Cofidis), Erik Fetter (Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team) and Lawson Craddock (Team BikeExchange – Jayco) took off with 100km to go and a large group of 22 eventually bridged across. There was no real threat to the GC riders within the escapees, with Arensman the best placed at almost 12 minutes down. However, motivated stage hunters like Bauke Mollema (Trek – Segafredo) and Mathieu Van Der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) were present, adding an extra impetus to the group. With the responsibility resting on Ineos to set the pace in the peloton, the gap grew to 4’30” by the time the break reached the bottom of the first climb, Pila-Les Fleurs (Cat. 1). Stuck in no man’s land for quite a few kilometres, José Joaquín Rojas (Movistar Team) eventually made it across to the break when the road pitched up for the first time, making it a group of 28. Noticing the break was getting too comfortable with its pace up the first climb, van der Poel launched an attack that was marked by Bouwman, hungry to claim the KOM jersey from Diego Rosa (Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team). The move dropped Julius van den Berg (EF Education – EasyPost) and Lawson Craddock (Team BikeExchange – Jayco) and boosted the gap to almost four minutes. Not wanting to leave the KOM points to chance, Bouwman struck out solo with 3km to the top of Pila-Les Fleurs, gained a minute on his chasers and easily collected the 40 points on offer at the summit. The effort put him back in the maglia azzurra ahead of Rosa. Meanwhile, Ineos led the peloton over the top of the climb almost five minutes behind. Bouwman kept the pressure on over the top of the climb, which sparked a chase from van der Poel and Martijn Tusveld (Team DSM). They made the junction with 60km remaining, and the Dutch trio worked together to build up a maximum of 1’34” on their former breakaway companions by the time they started the second climb. Back in the chase group, Merhawi Kudus (EF Education – EasyPost) put the pressure on to catch the leaders while successfully shaking off some of the weaker riders for teammate Hugh Carthy. The former Eritrean national champion brought the chase group down to eight riders before pulling off. Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) kept the pace high with Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) on his wheel. Antonio Pedrero (Movistar) was able to latch on to the back of the move, but Carthy found himself incapable of matching Ciccone’s speed and lagged a few metres behind. It didn’t take long for Ciccone, Buitrago and Pedrero to bridge across to the Dutch leaders, who lost Bouwman halfway up the climb. Ciccone attacked the front group several times, distancing van der Poel, and later Tusveld, with six kilometres of climbing left up Verrogne. Buitrago, Ciccone and Pedrero continued to work together as the climb pressed on. Thirty seconds behind, a chase group formed with Carthy, Tusveld and Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates). Carthy accelerated out of the chase group to catch the leaders by the time they reached the summit with 40km to go. Ciccone led the group up and over Verrogne to take the 40 points in the KOM competition. Despite Ciccone’s multiple accelerations, Costa and Tusveld eventually caught the leaders at the tail end of the descent to make it a group of six up the road with 25km to go. A feisty Ciccone attacked yet again at the base of the final climb, cracking Tusveld, Costa and Pedrero. Buitrago fell off the pace soon after, and with 20km to go, it was a two-up battle between Carthy and Ciccone. Ciccone fired another acceleration with 18km to go, and Carthy couldn’t respond. The 22-year-old Italian gained more than a minute, while behind, Carthy and Buitrago were left to lick their wounds. The Italian rode like an unstoppable force the remainder of the climb, putting a minute and 30 seconds into Buitrago, who caught and passed a fading Carthy. Buitrago ended up taking second, and Pedrero third another 2’19” behind Ciccone’s winning time. Carthy came home in fourth place. Results powered by FirstCycling