Il Giro: Van Wilder digs deep on legendary summit

Tre Cime di Lavaredo, the climb forever linked with Eddy Merckx’s incredible exploits at the 1968 Giro d’Italia, hosted the penultimate showdown between the GC favourites, setting a pecking order ahead of Saturday’s individual time trial. Back after nine years, the ascent took the riders to more than 2000 meters, with the finish line at Rifugio Auronzo, after 7.2 kilometers averaging 7.6%.
It was the fifth classified climb of the day, and Ilan Van Wilder punched above his weight for the umpteenth time at this edition, staying with the best until three kilometers to go, when the big moves came on the gruelling double-digit gradients. The Belgian dug deep once the elastic snapped and every man was for himself, and just like on the previous mountain stages, he impressed with his pacing and determination. This cemented his position in the general classification and brought him just a couple of seconds from 12th place, where Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious), the stage 19 winner, sits at the moment.
“Just like on the other days, I rode my own tempo once things began heating up in the kilometers to the finish, so I’m pretty satisfied with how things went. The last climb was just horrible, not very much to my liking, because it was too short and too steep, but I did my best. That’s another reason for me to be content at the end of the day. Now I will try to recover and give everything in the individual time trial, which is going to be very tough”, said Soudal Quick-Step’s 23-year-old, who is close to taking his best result in a Grand Tour.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images
Race details
1 |
Santiago Buitrago Sánchez Bahrain - Victorious |
5:28:07 |
2 |
Derek Gee Israel - Premier Tech |
0:51 |
3 |
Magnus Cort Nielsen EF Education-EasyPost |
1:46 |
4 |
Primož Roglič Jumbo-Visma |
1:46 |
5 |
Geraint Thomas INEOS Grenadiers |
1:49 |
6 |
João Almeida UAE Team Emirates |
2:09 |
7 |
Damiano Caruso Bahrain - Victorious |
2:09 |
8 |
Thymen Arensman INEOS Grenadiers |
2:09 |
9 |
Thibaut Pinot Groupama - FDJ |
2:16 |
10 |
Einer Augusto Rubio Reyes Movistar Team |
2:26 |
14 |
Ilan Van Wilder
Soudal - Quick Step |
3:05 |
55 |
Pieter Serry
Soudal - Quick Step |
23:16 |
1 |
Geraint Thomas INEOS Grenadiers |
81:55:47 |
2 |
Primož Roglič Jumbo-Visma |
0:26 |
3 |
João Almeida UAE Team Emirates |
0:59 |
4 |
Damiano Caruso Bahrain - Victorious |
4:11 |
5 |
Eddie Dunbar Team Jayco AlUla |
4:53 |
6 |
Thibaut Pinot Groupama - FDJ |
5:10 |
7 |
Thymen Arensman INEOS Grenadiers |
5:13 |
8 |
Lennard Kämna BORA - hansgrohe |
5:54 |
9 |
Andreas Leknessund Team DSM |
6:08 |
10 |
Laurens De Plus INEOS Grenadiers |
7:30 |
13 |
Ilan Van Wilder
Soudal - Quick Step |
10:19 |
60 |
Pieter Serry
Soudal - Quick Step |
2:30:34 |
1 |
Jonathan Milan Bahrain - Victorious |
215 pt |
2 |
Derek Gee Israel - Premier Tech |
160 pt |
3 |
Pascal Ackermann UAE Team Emirates |
95 pt |
4 |
Michael Matthews Team Jayco AlUla |
93 pt |
5 |
Toms Skujiņš Trek - Segafredo |
79 pt |
6 |
Nico Denz BORA - hansgrohe |
77 pt |
7 |
Magnus Cort Nielsen EF Education-EasyPost |
68 pt |
8 |
Marius Mayrhofer Team DSM |
53 pt |
9 |
Vincenzo Albanese EOLO-Kometa |
51 pt |
10 |
Mark Cavendish Astana Qazaqstan Team |
51 pt |
51 |
Ilan Van Wilder
Soudal - Quick Step |
10 pt |
1 |
Thibaut Pinot Groupama - FDJ |
228 pt |
2 |
Derek Gee Israel - Premier Tech |
200 pt |
3 |
Ben Healy EF Education-EasyPost |
164 pt |
4 |
Davide Bais EOLO-Kometa |
144 pt |
5 |
Einer Augusto Rubio Reyes Movistar Team |
118 pt |
6 |
Santiago Buitrago Sánchez Bahrain - Victorious |
82 pt |
7 |
Davide Gabburo Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè |
69 pt |
8 |
João Almeida UAE Team Emirates |
61 pt |
9 |
Aurélien Paret-Peintre AG2R Citroën Team |
56 pt |
10 |
Filippo Zana Team Jayco AlUla |
54 pt |
49 |
Ilan Van Wilder
Soudal - Quick Step |
4 pt |
1 |
João Almeida UAE Team Emirates |
81:56:46 |
2 |
Thymen Arensman INEOS Grenadiers |
4:14 |
3 |
Andreas Leknessund Team DSM |
5:09 |
4 |
Einer Augusto Rubio Reyes Movistar Team |
6:41 |
5 |
Santiago Buitrago Sánchez Bahrain - Victorious |
9:04 |
6 |
Ilan Van Wilder
Soudal - Quick Step |
9:20 |
7 |
Filippo Zana Team Jayco AlUla |
30:07 |
8 |
Laurens Huys Intermarché - Circus - Wanty |
45:54 |
9 |
Brandon McNulty UAE Team Emirates |
1:06:03 |
10 |
Michel Hessmann Jumbo-Visma |
1:16:03 |
1 | Bahrain - Victorious | 245:35:12 |
2 | INEOS Grenadiers | 19:59 |
3 | Jumbo-Visma | 33:47 |
4 | UAE Team Emirates | 55:50 |
5 | BORA - hansgrohe | 1:17:46 |
6 | AG2R Citroën Team | 1:18:05 |
7 | Astana Qazaqstan Team | 1:26:02 |
8 | Team Jayco AlUla | 1:30:34 |
9 | Israel - Premier Tech | 1:48:45 |
10 | EF Education-EasyPost | 2:05:23 |