Andrea Vendrame misses out in catastrophic moment on final turn as Koen Bouwman wins Stage 19 at Giro d’Italia

A tight ninety-degree bend caused chaos for the leading breakaway of five riders in a bizarre conclusion to Stage 19 at the Santuario di Castelmonte as Dutchman Koen Bouwman squeezed past Switzerland’s Mauro Schmid to take a second stage win on the Giro while Italy’s Andrea Vendrame and Hungary’s Attila Valter rode into the barriers behind.

Bouwman (Jumbo-Visma) took the ideal race line but caught Schmid (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) by surprise, the Swiss locking up and forcing Vendrame (Ag2R-Citroen) and Valter (Groupama-FDJ) wide. Vandrame and Valter were left to rue their luck as Bouwman punched the air ahead of an irate Schmid and third-place Alessandro Tonelli (Bardiani-CSF).

“My opinion it was not a fair sprint – that’s pretty clear,” Schmid said in the immediate aftermath of the 178km stage through the Julian Alps of north-east Italy. “Because my handlebars were in front and he [Bouwman] nearly crashed in the last corner. He knew that he was slower in the sprint so he pushed me away and I could do nothing.”

It was double delight for Bouwman who crested the summit of all four of the day’s climbs to put the blue king of the mountains jersey beyond the reach of any of his rivals, the 28-year-old now set to become the first Dutchman in Giro history to win the climbers’ classification.

With an initial breakaway of 12 riders establishing a lead of over 10 minutes as the race dipped into Slovenia for a trip up the tough Kolovrat mountain, there was little drama in the fight for pink despite some early pressure applied by Jai Hindley’s Bora-Hansgrohe team following the early withdrawal of Richie Porte (Ineos Grenadiers) through illness.

Australia’s Hindley was able to follow attacks from the pink jersey Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) and Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious) on the final climb of the day, and the top three riders of this year’s Giro crossed the line together almost four minutes behind the leaders.

Ecuador’s Carapaz, the 2019 champion, will take a slender three-second lead over Hindley, the 2020 runner-up, into the final mountain showdown in the Dolomites on Saturday, with Basque climber Landa in third place at 1:05.

More to follow.

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