Hat trick for Pogačar at the Giro

• Slovenian conquers Prati di Tivo stage; Hirschi 2nd in Hungary​

In Prati di Tivo, Pogačar took his 3rd victory in the Giro, preceding in a restricted sprint of 11 riders Daniel Martinez (Bora-hansgrohe) and Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R).

Stage 8, with start from Spoleto, finished in the summit arrival of Prati di Tivo (14,7 km at 7%) after that the cyclists had covered 152 km with the climbs of Forca Capistrello (2nd category) and Croce Abbio (3rd category).

UAE Team Emirates was flawless in controlling a 14 riders breakaway, allowing a 2’ of maximum advantage and gradually bridging the gap from the head of the race on the final climb.

Then, the pace of Felix Grossschartner and Rafal Majka selected the top riders group to 12 members, prelude to a series of attempts of attacks by Pogačar’s opponents, to which the Pink Jersey replied without hesitation before winning the final sprint.

The Slovenian rider has an advantage in the GC of 2’40” on Daniel Martinez and he’s also still leader of the climber’s classification.

Pogačar: “After yesterday, when everybody had relaxed a little bit except Mikkel Bjerg and me, all my teammates felt good today and they did a super job at the beginning of the stage, surviving the first climb with almost the whole team complete at the front of the peloton.

It was up to my teammates if we could go for the stage win or not, they felt good and so we could have a great finish. I’m super happy for the victory and for the great shape from all the team.

Tomorrow, we hope for an easier day for us, but we’re aware it won’t be totally easy”.

Stage 9, the longest on the Giro (214 km) will start from Avezzano and will finish in Naples with a hilly final part.

Giro d’Italia – stage 8 results

1. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) 4h02’16”

2. Daniel Martinez (Bora-hansgrohe) s.t.

3. Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R) s.t.

Giro d’Italia – GC after stage 8

1. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) 28h14’42”

2. Daniel Martinez (Bora-hansgrohe) 2’40”

3. Geraint Thomas (Ineos-Grenadiers) +2’58”

Another second place for UAE Team Emirates in the Tour de Hongrie.

After Diego Ulissi finished just behind Thibau Nys (Lidl-Trek) on stage 3, in stage 4 (Budapest-Etyk, 165,5 km) it was Marc Hirschi’s turn to be preceded by the Belgian rider.

The epilogue of the race was a long sprint at the top of a 1,3 km hill (5,9 %): Nys opted for a long acceleration, only Hirschi could follow him but without succeeding in overtaking the race leader.

For UAE Team Emirates, in addition to the 2nd place by Hirschi, also Ulissi was in the top 10 (8th).

In the GC, Ulissi is 2nd at 14” to Nys with only the final stage to be raced: 173,2 km, start from Siofok and finish in Pecs, with two passages in the second part of the course on Pecs climb (2nd category) and the summit finish on a 2,4 km hill with peek of 15%.

Tour de Hongrie – stage 4 results

1. Thibau Nys (Lidl-Trek) 3h33’02”

2. Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates) s.t.

3. Yannis Voisard (Tudor) s.t.

Tour de Hongrie – general classification after stage 4

1. Thibau Nys (Lidl-Trek) 15h42’33”

2. Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates) +14”

3. Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-hansgrohe) +16”