PA Media/DPA
London
Lidl’Trek’s Jonathan Milan delighted the home crowd as he won a bunch sprint finish on stage 11 of the Giro d’Italia.
The 207-kilometre course started in hilly terrain at Foiano di Val Fortore and featured a Category 3 climb before a flat run towards Francavilla al Mare as the tour began heading back north.
Thomas Champion (Cofidis) was among the breakaway group with Team Visma-Lease duo Edoardo Affii and Tim van Dijk, but their lead was kept down to around a minute by a sprinter-driven peloton.
Although Andrea Piccolo (EF Education-EasyPost) set off on a solo attack heading into the final 20km, he was soon pulled back in as the teams eyed the expected sprint finish.
Both Tim Merlier and Fernando Gaviria (Movistar) had looked in the mix, but it was Italian rider Milan who timed his own burst perfectly to take his second stage win of the 2024 tour.
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) retained the overall lead in the General Classification standings, two minutes and 40 seconds in front of Daniel Martinez (Bora-Hansgrohe).
Geraint Thomas (Ineos-Grenadiers) remains third, the Welshman having collected two bonus seconds from an intermediate sprint which puts him 16 seconds behind Martinez.
Ahead of Wednesday’s start, Cian Uijtdebroeks (Visma-Lease) was forced to abandon the Giro through illness. Thursday’s stage 12 (193 km) will be from Martinsicuro to Fano.