Giro d’Italia. Mark Cavendish takes third place in Stage 11
Stage 11, the longest stage of 106th edition of the Giro d’Italia, ended with a bunch sprint on the streets of Tortona after 219 km of racing. The Astana Qazaqstan Team rider Mark Cavendish looked really strong in the sprint, he was fighting for the stage victory to the very last meter and, finally, finished third.
“We were really motivated for today’s stage. It was a nice sprint on paper, but it wasn’t easy to arrive there… The way we built as a team this Giro we knew if we work together, we get there. Vadim rode the whole day on the front, making an incredible tempo and making sure the break never got too far. And the boys looked after me in the final. There was a small kick when another team attacked to try to drop us, but the boys stayed with me. We were just off the pack, but we came back, we stayed together, we straight to the front and set up for the sprint. I was so motivated; the boys rode incredible for me, and I am so proud of them, and I am just sorry I couldn’t finish it off. I couldn’t change anything else about the sprint. In terms of how the sprint went and how I rode it I just got beaten by, actually, two incredible young riders, Pascal Ackermann and Jonathan Milan. It’s not bad boys to be beaten by. So, my congratulations to Pascal”, – said Mark Cavendish.
“We can be proud of the way we rode this stage as a team, the guys did a great job for Mark and he also made a perfect sprint, he did not make any mistake, just he was beaten by two faster riders today. We knew we could make it to the finish with Mark and we worked hard to chase the break with Vadim Pronskiy and later, on the climb the guys provided a great support to Mark, bringing him back to the peloton and cruising him to the front looking for a good position for the sprint. Mark was there, he got a good wheel of Jonathan Milan and later of Mads Pedersen, he launched a very good sprint and missed just a little to get this win. It was a good one…”, – added Stefano Zanini, Sports Director of Astana Qazaqstan Team.
Photo credit: @SprintCycling