A world champion emerges! Alaphilippe rides at the front all day and clinches magnificent victory

The riders faced a fairly tough stage, with more than 2,000 meters of elevation gain. Along the way, there were four categorized climbs, but also many other climbs on the route to Fano. From kilometer fifty onwards, the course was all uphill and downhill. Ten kilometers before the finish lay the last chance to break away, before a fairly technical finale, followed by the finish line. Who dared to take on this challenge?

The answer to that question was clear: everyone wanted to join. Attacks rained down on the first flat section, with attempts from Matteo Trentin and Roel van Sintmaartensdijk. Their attempt did not succeed, nor did those from other larger groups. It was a matter of waiting for the first real, selectively ascending sections, which came after 55 kilometers of racing. When it finally happened, chaos erupted.

A group of four, featuring Edoardo Affini (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Simon Clarke (Israel-Premier Tech) as major leaders, broke away and was soon joined by a larger group, including Trentin, Julian Alaphilippe and Jhonatan Narváez. Later, many more riders joined the breakaway. Attila Valter bridged the gap, as did Filippo Ganna (INEOS Grenadiers), Mauri Vansevenant and Jan Hirt (Soudal Quick-Step), Pelayo Sanchez and Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and stage winner Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis).

However, they weren't the only ones with plans. After some time, Alaphilippe and Maestri broke away together, gaining a minute's gap. Behind them, the two larger groups merged into a group of 36 riders. It quickly became apparent that not everyone was willing to collaborate or contribute. Ganna then started working for Narváez, who attacked and took some riders with him. Seventy kilometers from the finish, they had a significant gap on the rest of the initial breakaway, who gradually lost time and drifted back towards the peloton. The atmosphere there was sluggish, as if they were merely riding aimlessly and leisurely—a collective 'chasse patate', one might say.

Narváez, however, was in high spirits. Who was along for the ride with him? Quinten Hermans (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Christian Scaroni (Astana), Michael Valgren (EF Education-Easypost), Dion Smith (Intermarché-Wanty), Gijs Leemreize (dsm-firmenich PostNL) and the aforementioned Thomas, Trentin and Clarke. Their deficit on the Maestri-Alaphilippe duo did not decrease easily. The duo proved particularly tough despite the cooperation led by the Ecuadorian of INEOS Grenadiers. The peloton was quite drowsy at this stage. There didn't seem to be any GC riders with attack plans. The attackers had all the space to decide the outcome of this stage in the beautiful hilly landscape of Eastern Italy.

Between fifty and thirty kilometers from the finish, Alaphilippe and Maestri's lead fluctuated between one and two minutes. The duo worked together in a most excellent way. Maestri cooperated with the Frenchman and, in return, was allowed to take the mountain points on the climbs. Twenty kilometers from the finish, they still had a fifty-second gap. Meanwhile, some crosswind picked up in the open sections. Bahrain Victorious tried to make the race tougher here. There was a brief split, but it didn't result in any serious dropouts.

In the finale, the climb of Giovo awaited, a steep nasty one that wasn't categorized but would decide the stage victory. The leading duo started the climb with a forty-second advantage. The erratic little hill was enough for Alaphilippe to drop Maestri. In the group behind, Valgren and Narváez were the strongest, and Hermans could keep up. Alaphilippe didn't lose much time and reached the top with a 38-second lead over the next riders in line.

In the descent, Hermans and Narváez were left in pursuit of Loulou. His golden hour seemed to have truly arrived, as his opponents combined weren't much stronger than the Frenchman alone. In the winding finale through Fano, the Belgian and the Ecuadorian didn't get any closer. Alaphilippe maintained his lead and prepared for a very beautiful finish. Solo, almost like in his glory days. A well-deserved victory, won with heroic courage. And with this win, the Frenchman also completed his trilogy, after his earlier stage victories in the Vuelta and the Tour. Narváez finished second, Hermans third. The peloton rolled in about five minutes later, but no real big names were missing there. Pogacar retained the pink jersey without any problems.