Novak wins queen stage at Giro Next Gen, tightens GC battle ahead of finale
Pavel Novak (MBH Bank Ballan CSB) claimed a breakthrough win on stage 7 of the Giro Next Gen, dropping his breakaway companions one by one to take the race’s queen stage—and vault into GC contention. A late puncture for Aubin Sparfel (Decathlon-AG2R U23) cleared Novak’s path to victory and moved him up to third overall, just 27 seconds off pink.
Race leader Luke Tuckwell (RedBull-Bora Rookies) clung to the maglia rosa despite sustained pressure from Jakob Omrzel (Bahrain-Victorious U23) and Jorgen Nordhagen (Visma-Lease a Bike). Omrzel, now just 11 seconds back, remains the biggest threat heading into Sunday’s finale around Pinerolo.
Defending champion Jarno Widar (Lotto Dstny Development) crashed with 33km to go and was unable to rejoin the GC group, ending his title defense.
