The first stage in Piedmont changed everything. British rider Blackmore regained the lead on the eve of the final on the Colle delle Finestre, while the previous yellow jersey, Pablo Torres, and Belgian rider Widar were shipwrecked. Italian Kajamini won the stage in front of his home crowd.
This was supposed to be a stage for adventurers. And there were plenty of them! More than twenty of them, including the Frenchman Léo Bisiaux, who was decidedly attractive, got away early, well before the Mont-Cenis that marked the entrance to Italy. But things took a completely different turn when British rider Joseph Blackmore, who had already won the yellow jersey in La Rosière on Wednesday but was demoted in Les Karellis the following day, pulled away before the start of the Franco-Italian pass in the company of Dutchman Tijmen Graat, who was also well placed. The result of an apparently concerted strategy to make a big change.
As a result, the battle for the overall classification, thought to be a duel between Spaniard Pablo Torres, who had taken the yellow jersey with his victory in Les Karellis, and Belgian climber Jarno Widar, ultra-favourite, was relaunched. And even reversed.
The decision on La Finestre
Of the twenty or so breakaways, eight remained in contention for the stage win. The Italian of Albanian origin, Florian Samuel Kajamini, didn’t miss the opportunity to win a stage that earned him a standing ovation from the Italian public, who turned out in force to welcome the Tour de l’Avenir.
In the leading group, Joseph Blackmore unexpectedly regained the CIC yellow jersey, which he had relinquished for the previous 24 hours. But he remains under threat from Dutch rider Tijmen Graat (2nd at 24‘’), who had been well ahead of him on the climb up to Les Karellis, and also from Léo Bisiaux (3rd again overall, at 45‘’), who at 19 years of age (he wore the white jersey of best young rider) could still be in with a chance of overall victory, or failing that, a podium finish, which would already be synonymous with confirmation for the first year French hopeful.
The 18km Colle delle Finestre, the last eight of which are unpaved, will be the scene of Saturday’s final verdict. On this stage, climbers Pablo Torres and Jarno Widar can still hope for stage victory by way of consolation. It’s a big disappointment for the two leaders of the Giro Next Gen (the Giro d’Italia U23 where the Belgian beat the Spaniard) who seemed to have the upper hand. But there are surely defeats from which you learn more than victories, and the Tour de l’Avenir is precisely designed to teach you all the facets of the job…
