Second in Alberobello, the Colombian has a hefty advantage over the other riders who are fighting for the famed maglia ciclamino.
Fernando Gaviria continued to impress at the Giro d'Italia, his maiden Grand Tour, after coming from far back to score his third top 3 finish in the space of five days. The 22-year-old, who was victorious in Cagliari and Messina, once again relied on a strong team, which protected him from the start and chased the two riders who were part of the breakaway, Giuseppe Fonzi (Wilier Triestina) and Dmitry Kozontchuk (Gazprom-RusVelo).
Dries Devenyns, Iljo Keisse and Pieter Serry kept the duo's gap under control during the 224km-long stage which took the riders from Castrovillari to Alberobello, and reabsorbed them inside the last 20 kilometers, before race leader Bob Jungels took the front in the closing kilometers in order to bring the Quick-Step Floors train in the best position for the tricky and complicated stage 7 finish.
After being set up by Maximiliano Richeze, Fernando Gaviria unleashed his devastating turn of speed, and even though the road ahead had many twists and turns and was really crowded at one points, the 22-year-old managed to extricate himself from there, come around Andre Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) and finish runner-up on the stage, behind Caleb Ewan (Orica-Scott), but ahead of Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe).
"That final kilometer was hectic and really technical, but Ewan did a great sprint and deserved to win. I was boxed in at one point, but made use of my track skills and came to the front, taking second in the end. Giving that I was far back when the sprint started, this is a good result, one which helps me stretch my lead in the maglia ciclamino standings. I am happy the legs were there and will see what the next stages will bring", said Gaviria after notching Quick-Step Floors' 45th top-3 finish of the season.
Bob Jungels arrived two seconds later, together with the other general classification favourites, and will now don the maglia rosa for the fourth day in a row, a personal record for the 24-year-old rider, who leads also the white jersey classification, where he has a ten-second cushion over the next two men.
Photo credit: ©BrakeThrough Media
