Riding in his first ever Grand Tour, Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost) claimed his maiden Grand Tour stage victory on Wednesday’s stage 17 of the Giro d’Italia.
The 22-year-old German got clear with a breakaway move that formed in the early goings of the mountainous stage in the Dolomites. He later joined Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Lidl-Trek) in attacking the break before leaving the Eritrean behind to continue on solo. Steinhauser would be the only surviving breakaway rider, winning 1:24 ahead of Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates).
Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) led a group that included Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) and Daniel Martínez (Bora-Hansgrohe) over the line further 17 seconds back. Ben O’Connor (Decathlon-AG2R la Mondiale) was dropped from the GC group earlier on the final climb and lost time on the day.
A breakaway rider actually stays clear
- The up-and-down profile made it another enticing opportunity for the breakaway specialists, and as ever, there was a fierce fight to get off the front. Steinhauser was in an initial move that was brought back, and then he attacked again. This time, it stuck.
- Multiple groups would eventually coalesce into a 10-rider move with Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-Quick Step) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar) among the big names joining Steinhauser, Ghebreigzabhier, and others in the escape.
- DSM Firmenich-PostNL set the pace in the bunch for a lengthy stretch, keeping the gap relatively small but not quite reeling in the break. Still, it seemed for a while like stage 17 could be yet another day of dashed hopes for the breakaway riders, especially if Pogačar and his team decided to take up the chase.
- Ghebreigzabhier attacked on third-category Passo Gobbera with some 60 km still to go, and Steinhauser bridged up to him. The pair rode on together for 25 km until Steinhauser attacked and pressed on ahead on his own.
- The peloton would mop up everyone from the break except Steinhauser by the early slopes of the final climb, where the Ineos Grenadiers took it on themselves to set the pace. The tempo proved too high for Ben O’Connor, who dropped from the GC group.
- Martínez tried an attack some 2 km from the top of the climb but Pogačar countered and gradually built up an advantage over the other GC riders. Up front, Steinhauser took the win, and Pogačar arrived 1:24 later to take runner-up honors and further extend his GC lead.
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Brief analysis
- Steinhauser has been in the breakaway before at this Giro and he looked strong on stage 15, taking third in Livigno. He showed on Wednesday that persistence pays off, going off the front again, and then again after his initial move was caught. He also showed just how strong of a rider he is, maintaining over a minute on the chasing GC group even as the rest of the early escapees had long since been caught.
- Although Steinhauser did stay clear, stage 17 once again saw a team other than UAE set the pace for a while in the bunch to keep the breakaway close. On Tuesday it was Movistar, and on Wednesday it was DSM. Neither team seemed to benefit much from the strategy on either occasion.
- The pace-setting of Ineos did help Thomas secure a safer grip on third place, as it wore away at O’Connor, who ultimately shipped 41 seconds to the Welshman.
- With a sprinter’s stage 18 coming up on Thursday and an intermediate stage 19 after that, Friday’s stage 20 is now the only major mountain test left in the 2024 Giro d’Italia.
Quote of the day
Today already when I rode to the sign-on, I thought to myself, ‘F—, I have good legs. Maybe I will win today.’ I went from the beginning in the break. It was a little bit strange because we got caught by the peloton again, but at one moment I decided I have to try again, and I did, and it worked out.
—Georg Steinhauser after his stage 17 victory.
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