BELGIUM’S VICTOR CAMPENAERTS won Sunday’s 15th stage of the Giro d’Italia with Colombian Egan Bernal holding the leader’s pink jersey.
Campenaerts, 29, finished ahead of Dutch rider Oscar Riesebeek of Alpecin-Fenix after the 147km stage which crossed into neighbouring Slovenia.
Ineos’ Bernal, the 2019 Tour de France winner, held the overall race lead before the mountainous 16th stage in the Dolomites.
Ireland’s Dan Martin finished the day with the main bunch in 64th place and moves up one more place to 12th in the general classification, while Nicolas Roche finished 127th.
The day’s racing in north-eastern Italy from Grado to Gorizia had been halted for half an hour following a spectacular mass crash that knocked several riders, including Emanuel Buchmann, out of the race.
German Buchmann, who rides for Bora-Hansgrohe, started the day sixth overall but pulled out after hitting his head in a mass fall a few kilometres outside Grado.
The two-time Paris-Nice winner had been a contender for the Giro podium.
Organisers neutralised the race to allow medical staff to reach injured riders.
Three others, Cofidis’ Eritrean Natnael Berhane, EF Education’s Portuguese rider Ruben Guerreiro and Jumbo-Visma’s Jos van Emden from the Netherlands, also quit the race.
The42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us!
