Dario Cataldo wins stage 15 as Roglic crashes – Giro d’Italia

Giro d’Italia 2019

Stage 15

A crash for Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic on the twisting descent of the Civiglio climb saw Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz extend his lead in the Giro d’Italia after Italian veteran Dario Cataldo held on to win a dramatic Stage 15 in Como.

Twice a runner-up in the Giro, Astana veteran Caltaldo beat fellow escapee Mattia Cattaneo of Androni Giocattoli after their two-man move stayed out for more than 200km over some of cycling’s most legendary roads in the northern Italian province of Lombardy.

Britain’s Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) took third place in a select chase group that included the race leader Carapaz of Movistar, Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain Merida) and fellow Briton Hugh Carthy (EF Education First).

Under pressure from a huge attack from Nibali and Carapaz on the decisive Civiglio climb, Jumbo-Visma’s Roglic, who trailed Carapaz by just seven seconds going into the stage, crashed into the barriers on a tight corner inside the final five kilometres.

Roglic recovered but could only finish an unlucky thirteenth place at the finish to concede 40 seconds to Carapaz, who took fifth on the stage behind the British duo and ahead of Nibali, 11 seconds down on the winner.

Although Nibali managed to ride clear on the descent on the same roads where he twice won Il Lombardia, the Sicilian was unable to drop Carapaz and stays 1’47” down on the race leader in third place.

Colombian Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) finished in a second chase group 36 seconds down alongside Poland’s Rafal Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe), Spain’s Mikel Landa (Movistar) and Italians Domenico Pozzovivo (Bahrain Merida) and Davide Formolo (Bora Hansgrohe).

Roglic’s woes started before his crash, the former ski jumper suffering a mechanical ahead of the final climb and needing to swap bikes with teammate Antwan Tolhoek before being dropped by Nibali’s stinging attack.

Dario Cataldo (Astana) and Mattia Cattaneo (Androni Giacattoli) ride past a rice field.

Roglic now trails Carapaz by 47 seconds going into the second rest day.

Billed as a mini-Il Lombardia, the 232km stage from Ivrea to Como featured the Madonna del Ghisallo, Colma di Sormano and Civiglio climbs regularly used in the fifth monument of the season – making double Lombardia winner Nibali very much the bookmakers’ favourite.

But it was two other Italians who animated the race initially after breaking away shortly after the start. Mattia Cattaneo (Androni Giacattoli) and Dario Caltaldo (Astana) built up a commanding maximum lead of 16 minutes as the riders passed over the rice fields of Lombardy and into the foothills of the Alps.

In a brief flurry of excitement, Frenchman Arnaud Demare moved a further two points clear of Germany’s Pascal Ackermann in the maglia ciclamino competition after the two riders battled it out when the peloton passed through the first intermediate sprint at Busto Arsizio.

The teams of the general classification contenders were finally stirred into action ahead of the famous Madonna del Ghisallo climb, which saw the pack whittled down and Belgian Jan Bakelants (Team Sunweb) enjoy a brief foray off the front.

Cataldo led Cattaneo over the summit after the latter had to fight back from a bike change on the foot of the final ramp, with the gap down to just over seven minutes.

The Mitchelton-Scott team of Yates put in a series of strong showings on the front of the thinning pack and it was no surprise when the Briton put in the first big attack on the Colma di Sormano inside the final 50km.

Movistar duo Landa and Carapaz were quick to reply along with Nibali, but an isolated Roglic was caught dozing. The leaders came back together before Yates put in another attack to open up a small gap. There was no panic from his rivals, though, and the reigning Vuelta champion was reeled in just as the favourites went over the summit of the Sormano.

A long, twisting and breathtakingly beautiful descent to the banks of the shimmering lake was not free from incident: Cattaneo’s backwheel locked on one hairpin bend while American Joe Dombrowski (EF Education First) saw his front wheel give way in front of him, sending him catapulting to the ground and knocking down Bakelants in the process.

But the most notable flashpoint was a mechanical issue for Roglic, which saw the Slovenian lose touch with his rivals and require a bike change with teammate Tolhoek ahead of the final climb.

Richard Carapaz smiles as he dons the maglia rosa again.

The leading duo hit the start of the Cat.3 ascent of Civiglio with a gap of four minutes making a maiden Giro stage win for one of them almost certain.

Yates was the first of the favourites to kick out on the climb, chasing down an earlier move by compatriot Carthy. Behind, it all kicked off when Nibali struck out with just over 10km remaining – taking Carapaz with him but heaping the pressure on Roglic.

Nibali and Carapaz caught and passed Yates and then joined Carthy just ahead of the summit. Nibali surged clear on the downhill as Roglic, perhaps struggling on an unfamiliar bike on the technical drop into Como, came a cropper on a hairpin bend.

Roglic was left in a painful embrace with the barriers separating him from a big drop down the hill. He remounted and battled to limit his loses – but the final hour of racing on Sunday will no doubt haunt his rest day, and perhaps days to come.

Up ahead it was a two-way battle for the win between the experienced Cataldo and the comparative rookie Cattaneo. Having finished runner-up in Giro stages in 2010 and 2014, it was third time lucky for 34-year-old Cataldo, who finally tasted victory in his tenth appearance in his national race.

“I was not thinking to go in the break today because I had two difficult days,” Cataldo said. “This morning I was just thinking ‘I have to go to the finish line’. But at the beginning the legs were okay, I just tried one time to follow Cattaneo and the legs were going well.

“At the end I was confident in myself. It was an amazing finale. Cattaneo kept me working. I said ‘Okay, I do my best in the sprint’ and it was okay. It’s something amazing – something I’ve been dreaming of all my life.”

Behind, Nibali was caught by the chasing trio and it was Yates who took the final bonus seconds for third place to rise another spot in the overall standings to seventh. After two strong days in the saddle, Yates is now 5’24” down on Carapaz and will be eyeing a possible top-five finish.

Roglic will enter the second rest day licking his wounds but relieved that his losses were not greater. But with Carapaz showing that he is the strongest climber on the race – and Movistar clearly far stronger than the Slovenian’s Jumbo-Visma squad – Roglic will not be able to rely on the final 15km time trial in Verona to overturn any deficit, especially if it continues to grow.

The Giro returns on Tuesday for a 194km stage from Lovre to Ponte di Legno. It’s another alpine stage with 15759 feet (4800m) of vertical altitude gain.

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