Schmid on the brink of overall success

Mauro Schmid showcased again his remarkable consistency, racking up a third runner-up spot in four days of racing at the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali after another strong ride on the hardest day of the week, which took in seven climbs for more than 2500 vertical meters.
A numerous group animated the day, opening up a gap of three minutes on the peloton where Soudal Quick-Step made sure of setting a steady tempo that didn’t allow the move to become dangerous. The likes of James Knox and Stan Van Tricht buried themselves for Schmid – who remained out of the wind until the penultimate hill – bringing back the escapees one by one.
An injection of pace followed by a series of sharp attacks with 15 kilometers to go led to a strong chasing group being formed behind lone leader Alexis Guerin (Bingoal). Mauro Schmid showed there is a reason why he is wearing the leader’s jersey, responding with ease and joining this move that came very close to bringing back Guerin, who in the end made it for a mere three seconds.
Second on the stage meant more valuable bonifications for our rider, who enters the final day ITT with a margin of 14 seconds over James Shaw (EF Education-EasyPost). A strong time trialist – gold medalist in the discipline with the mixed team relay at last year’s Worlds – Schmid will look to put in another solid ride and seal what would be the second GC success of his career.
“The whole team did a great job the whole day. We had a tough climb in the beginning and an 18-ma breakaway, so we had to chase full gas as nobody helped. In the end I just had to make sure that I didn’t lose too much time. I think I had quite good legs, I wanted to try to win the stage but it was a bit risky as I had two EF guys with me. If I pulled too hard and I lost time it could have been difficult for the last stage, so I just focused instead on taking the bonus seconds. Saturday’s time trial is flat, quite technical, but nothing too crazy, so I can be confident about my chances”, Schmid explained after the stage.
Photo credit: ©Sirotti
Race details
1 |
Alexis Guerin Bingoal WB |
4:05:29 |
2 |
Mauro Schmid
Soudal - Quick Step |
0:03 |
3 |
James Shaw EF Education-EasyPost |
0:03 |
4 |
Johannes Staune-Mittet Jumbo-Visma |
0:03 |
5 |
Domenico Pozzovivo Israel - Premier Tech |
0:03 |
6 |
Ben Healy EF Education-EasyPost |
0:03 |
7 |
Felix Engelhardt Team Jayco AlUla |
0:17 |
8 |
Mark Stewart Bolton Equities Black Spoke |
0:17 |
9 |
Davide Gabburo Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè |
0:17 |
10 |
Natnael Tesfatsion Trek - Segafredo |
0:17 |
18 |
James Knox
Soudal - Quick Step |
0:17 |
26 |
William Junior Lecerf Soudal - Quick Step |
1:13 |
46 |
Rémi Cavagna
Soudal - Quick Step |
8:45 |
60 |
Martin Svrček
Soudal - Quick Step |
15:00 |
65 |
Josef Černý
Soudal - Quick Step |
15:00 |
DNF |
Stan Van Tricht
Soudal - Quick Step |
-04:05:29 |
1 |
Mauro Schmid
Soudal - Quick Step |
15:57:02 |
2 |
James Shaw EF Education-EasyPost |
0:14 |
3 |
Walter Calzoni Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team |
0:28 |
4 |
Gianluca Brambilla Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team |
0:35 |
5 |
Domenico Pozzovivo Israel - Premier Tech |
0:43 |
6 |
Ben Healy EF Education-EasyPost |
0:44 |
7 |
Mark Padun EF Education-EasyPost |
0:56 |
8 |
Sean Quinn EF Education-EasyPost |
1:17 |
9 |
Johannes Staune-Mittet Jumbo-Visma |
1:19 |
10 |
Natnael Tesfatsion Trek - Segafredo |
1:30 |
18 |
James Knox
Soudal - Quick Step |
2:23 |
38 |
William Junior Lecerf Soudal - Quick Step |
21:20 |
40 |
Rémi Cavagna
Soudal - Quick Step |
23:22 |
58 |
Martin Svrček
Soudal - Quick Step |
41:13 |
101 |
Josef Černý
Soudal - Quick Step |
1:15:36 |
1 |
Mauro Schmid
Soudal - Quick Step |
28 pt |
2 |
Ben Healy EF Education-EasyPost |
13 pt |
3 |
Domenico Pozzovivo Israel - Premier Tech |
12 pt |
4 |
James Shaw EF Education-EasyPost |
11 pt |
5 |
Sean Quinn EF Education-EasyPost |
10 pt |
6 |
Rémi Cavagna
Soudal - Quick Step |
10 pt |
7 |
Alexis Guerin Bingoal WB |
10 pt |
8 |
Walter Calzoni Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team |
10 pt |
9 |
Mark Padun EF Education-EasyPost |
7 pt |
10 |
Felix Engelhardt Team Jayco AlUla |
7 pt |
1 |
Alexis Guerin Bingoal WB |
28 pt |
2 |
Lennert Teugels Bingoal WB |
24 pt |
3 |
Marco Murgano Team Corratec |
23 pt |
4 |
Jhonatan Restrepo Valencia GW Shimano-Sidermec |
16 pt |
5 |
Ben Healy EF Education-EasyPost |
14 pt |
6 |
Andrea Garosio EOLO-Kometa |
12 pt |
7 |
Florian Lipowitz BORA - hansgrohe |
10 pt |
8 |
Alessandro Fancellu EOLO-Kometa |
10 pt |
9 |
Veljko Stojnić Team Corratec |
8 pt |
10 |
Luca Covili Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè |
8 pt |
11 |
James Knox
Soudal - Quick Step |
8 pt |
13 |
Rémi Cavagna
Soudal - Quick Step |
5 pt |
15 |
Mauro Schmid
Soudal - Quick Step |
4 pt |
1 |
Walter Calzoni Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team |
15:57:30 |
2 |
Ben Healy EF Education-EasyPost |
0:16 |
3 |
Sean Quinn EF Education-EasyPost |
0:49 |
4 |
Johannes Staune-Mittet Jumbo-Visma |
0:51 |
5 |
Felix Engelhardt Team Jayco AlUla |
1:05 |
6 |
Tijmen Graat Jumbo-Visma |
1:05 |
7 |
Leo Hayter INEOS Grenadiers |
1:05 |
8 |
Fernando Tercero Lopez EOLO-Kometa |
1:13 |
9 |
Davide Piganzoli EOLO-Kometa |
3:45 |
10 |
Florian Lipowitz BORA - hansgrohe |
4:48 |
16 |
William Junior Lecerf Soudal - Quick Step |
20:52 |
22 |
Martin Svrček
Soudal - Quick Step |
40:45 |
1 | EF Education-EasyPost | 47:52:17 |
2 | Jumbo-Visma | 3:22 |
3 | Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè | 7:53 |
4 | EOLO-Kometa | 10:53 |
5 | Soudal - Quick Step | 14:02 |
6 | Israel - Premier Tech | 15:54 |
7 | Trek - Segafredo | 18:23 |
8 | Bingoal WB | 18:27 |
9 | BORA - hansgrohe | 33:07 |
10 | Team Jayco AlUla | 34:53 |