Giro dItalia 2022 stage 7

After two days off for the GC favourites, the spotlight shifts onto the battle for the maglia rosa on Stage 7.

It's nice to see Dumoulin on the front of the race again - he was dropped on the first climb after picking up a puncture. 145km to go: Wout Poels was caught by Fomolo and Perez shortly after the summit and they're descending as a trio - although the Dutchman is taking some of these damp corners quite gingerly. - off the front of the pack. The 2017 Giro winner stops on the side of the road and swaps back to his favoured steed - it's a lighter bike with more aero wheels. Not for the first time today: he punctured on the first climb of the day and was momentarily distanced by the pack. The gap drops to four minutes accordingly for the break - so that takes the pink jersey out of the equation for Bouwman and Mollema. The gap back to the peloton is still 5:35 and so it's touch and go for the pink jersey. Bouwman has many options today: the stage win, the pink jersey and the blue jersey (where he finds himself just two points away from the summit). This is a great turnaround for Jumbo-Visma, who also have Tom Dumoulin in the break, after their troubled start to the Giro. The gap is growing again - 5:40 now - so Bouwman is back in the virtual pink jersey. Jumbo-Visma put in a series of attacks through Bouwman and Dumoulin before Mollema takes advantage of a lull to go on a steep part of the climb. After a fast descent there are some lumps and bumps in the run into Potenza - incouding the punchy ramp to the second sprint at Potenza Centro - before the final uphill rise to the line, which ramps up to 13%. This is followed by another attack by Mollema, who powers clear to take the intermediate sprint ahead of Bouwman and Formolo. And this time it looks like Dumoulin has been dropped for good.

Giro Stage 7 Race Report: A super strong break formed early and was whittled down to four riders: Koen Bouwman, Davide Formolo, Tom Dumoulin and Bauke ...

Bouwman was first at the summit of the Montagna Grande di Viggiano, putting him in the lead of the KOM. On the descent, Villella was also able to return to the front. The 2017 Giro winner then took the lead in the service of Bouwman. Just before the top Mollema tried again and Bouwman and Formolo jumped on his wheel. I was confident that I would win the sprint but I didn’t expect the finish to be that steep. The Italian was able to get back on the bike and take his place in the leading group. Since moving to Spain and finding out how to use a computer, he has gone from contributor of Daily Distractions at the 2002 Vuelta a España to editor at PezCyclingNews. Formolo and Mollema were able to get to him, but Bouwman had to leave a gap. On the Passo Colla, the first climb of the day, Wout Poels attacked and was the first over the top, collecting the first points for the mountains classification. The leading group had 5 minutes at the top of the Monte Sirino, where Bouwman was the first over the top for 40 mountain points. Four Dutchmen were in front with Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious), Tom Dumoulin and Koen Bouwman (Jumbo-Visma) and Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo). The others were Davide Villella (Cofidis), Diego Camargo (EF-EasyPost) and Davide Formolo (UAE). Koen Bouwman won the seventh stage of the Giro d’Italia. In Potenza, the Dutchman of Jumbo-Visma was the best of a leading group of four men. There was a fierce battle for the break of the day, with a particularly fast pace. The bunch came in at 3 minutes with Juan Pedro López keeping the pink jersey.

Tom Dumoulin helped Koen Bouwman claim his first career grand tour victory from a breakaway as Jumbo-Visma's switch to target stage wins delivered quick ...

It was a languorous day in the saddle for most of the peloton, with just Diego Rosa (Eolo-Kometa) braving his arm, the Italian riding out in front on his lonesome for 140km, before the sprinters' teams came to the fore. The former Liège-Bastogne-Liège winner gained up to around 30sec on the peloton, while further back attacks came and went as riders marked each other. Another bike change for Tom Dumoulin who switches back to his climbing bike. Koen Bouwman rolls through the intermediate sprint first to pick up 12 points, the Jumbo-Visma rider is looking supremely relaxed. Fortunately, though, the Italian managed to find a soft landing in the grass verge at the side of the road. If the stage were to end now, Juan Pedro López would keep hold of the pink jersey. One rider rises out of his saddle to put a bike length or two into the group, before he his countered. Tom Dumoulin rolls off the front, team-mate Koen Bouwman stoically refuses to chase forcing Bauke Mollema into doing some of the heavy lifting. The Trek-Segafredo rider gains a few bike lengths on Dumoulin and Davide Formolo, but Koen Bouwmanis unable to hold their wheels. And the road pitches up to a very steep gradient. He will not panic, but instead stick to riding at his own measured pace. After the disappointment we had at Mount Etna, we decided to chase stages and that's what we did today.”

Image 1 of 41. POTENZA ITALY MAY 13 Koen Bouwman of Netherlands and Team Jumbo Visma celebrates winning during the. Giro d'Italia stage 7: Koen Bouwman ...

While focusing on and writing on tech topics, his varied skills and experience enable him to write on any topic related to tech which may interest him. Pioneer Jury is a qualified writer and a blogger, who loves to dabble with and write about technology. Koen Bouwman (Jumbo-Visma) claimed the first Grand Tour stage victory of his career on stage 7 of the Giro d’Italia, winning from the breakaway on a brutal and breathless stage to Potenza.