Giro d'Italia 2023: Alberto Dainese darts to thrilling Stage 17 sprint victory as Mark Cavendish fades
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Updated 24/05/2023 at 17:02 GMT
Alberto Dainese rounded Michael Matthews and held off a late surge from Jonathan Milan to win Stage 17 of the Giro d’Italia in a photo finish. After battling back from illness, Italy’s Dainese enjoyed a textbook lead-out from his Team DSM train to inflict a fourth second-place on his in-form compatriot, Milan. Geraint Thomas retained the pink jersey while Mark Cavendish was left frustrated.
Giro d'Italia Stage 17 highlights - Dainese edges out rivals in enthralling sprint finish
Not for the first time in this race, the towering Jonathan Milan was the fastest finisher in a bunch sprint – but not for the first time, the Bahrain Victorious rider came from too far back and missed out in a photo finish.
Victory on the Adriatic Coast in Caorle went to local Veneto rider Alberto Dainese (Team DSM) who battled back from illness in the Alps to pick up his first win in this Giro d’Italia. Dainese held off Milan’s late surge to win Stage 17 after coming round Australia’s Michael Matthews (Team Jayco-Alula) on the home straight.
Italians Niccolo Bonifazio (Intermarche-Circus-Wanty) and Simone Consonni (Cofidis) completed the top five – but there was no place for Britain’s Mark Cavendish (Astana-Qazaqstan) after the 38-year-old found himself boxed in after the final bend and well out of contention.
Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) came through the largely flat 197km stage from Pergine Valsugana unscathed to retain the pink jersey ahead of back-to-back summit finishes in the Dolomites. In what has become a three-way battle for the maglia rosa, the Welsh veteran leads Portugal’s Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) by 18 seconds with Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic (Jumbo Visma) in third place at 29 seconds.
On a day which included only 300 metres of climbing and saw the peloton drop 529 metres from the foothills of the Alpes to the Adriatic coast, a breakaway of four riders darted clear from the gun.
Senne Leysen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Thomas Champion (Cofidis), Diego Sevilla (Eolo-Kometa) and Charlie Quarterman (Team Corratec-Selle Italia) combined well in the sunshine – and one short but violent downpour – but never managed to build up a lead of more than three minutes over a well-drilled peloton.
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With Sunday’s final stage to Rome the only further chance for the sprinters, the breakaway never stood much hope of holding off the teams of the fastmen. The gap went up and down but the writing was already on the wall when Belgium’s Leysen soloed clear of his fellow escapees with around 20km remaining with the peloton breathing down their neck.
Leysen dug deep on the front to stretch out his lead to 55 seconds before the inevitable capture with 5km to go. The chase had been carried out by an alliance of Bahrain Victorious, Astana, Team DSM and Movistar riders – working for their men Milan, Cavendish, Dainese and Fernando Gaviria respectively.
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Senne Laysen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Thomas Champion (Cofidis), Diego Sevilla (Eolo-Kometa) and Charlie Quarterman (Team Corratec-Selle Italia) ride in the breakaway in Stage 17 of the Giro d'Italia 2023
Image credit: Getty Images
When push came to shove on the streets of Caorle, it was Dainese’s Team DSM and Matthews’s Jayco-AlUla who came to the front through the succession of tight bends and corners. German duo Marius Mayrhofer and Niklas Markl did a stellar job for Dainese, who came out of the final bend in pole position.
The initiative went to Matthews after he launched from the wheel of team-mate Michael Hepburn with 200 metres remaining – forcing Dainese round before opening up his sprint. Behind, the towering figure of Milan in his maglia ciclamino came from distance and pounded down on the tarmac with his distinctive earth-shuddering style.
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'Sensational result' - Dainese clinches thrilling victory on Stage 17 of Giro
But just as had been the case in Tortona in Stage 11, Milan left it way too late – and although he finished faster than any of his rivals, he lost out to Dainese by a whisker over the line.
Dainese described his first win on this year’s race as “insane” and claimed he was only riding “at eighty per cent” after battling back from illness during the last few days.
“The first sprints [for Team DSM] didn’t go as planned. But today we rode an insane final with the boys and Marius [Mayrhofer] did a super job and then Niklas [Markl] to finish it off. When he swung off, I was a bit overtaken by the guys on the left so I had to squeeze to try and catch Matthews.
“The last metres I was digging so deep, I was really on the limit and I saw Jonathan Milan coming. I couldn’t really throw my bike but it’s nice to get a few centimetres of my wheel ahead of Johnny to get the win.
“I’ve been quite sick with stomach issues and my breathing the last few days. Today was the first day I was feeling okay – like at eighty per cent - so to win like this after such a struggle is insane and I’m super happy.”
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Milan’s fourth second place of what had proved to be a breakthrough Giro saw the 22-year-old debutant move 94 points clear of his nearest challenger, the Canadian Derek Gee (Israel-PremierTech) in the maglia ciclamino points classification.
The focus of the race now shifts back to the pink and blue jerseys for the first of two consecutive summit finishes in the Dolomites. Thursday’s 160km Stage 18 concludes with the race’s first ascent to Coi before Friday’s queen stage comes to a head with three peaks above 2,000 metres – the Passo Valparola, Passo Giau and the summit showdown at Tre Cime di Lavaredo.
If Thomas – who turns 37 on Thursday – manages to keep both Almeida and Roglic at bay, he will become the oldest ever winner of the Giro d'Italia. But with two summit finishes in the Dolomites and the Saturday's decisive mountain time trial still ahead, the outcome of the 106th edition of La Corsa Rosa is far from clear.
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