Enrico Battaglin fought his way to another Giro d’Italia top 10 finish today in Peschici. Team LottoNL-Jumbo’s Italian placed fourth in the uphill finish behind winner Spaniard Gorka Izagirre. Team’s leader Steven Kruijswijk left nothing to chance in the insidious arrival and placed ninth. Luxemburger Bob Jungels, despite a fall today, remains the pink jersey leader.

“Again one day down,” Kruijswijk said. “The team was good today. It was a difficult day, the heat and twisting roads made it difficult. In the last 40 kilometres, you had to be at the front all the time. The division of tasks was perfect, so the team did well."

From the start in Molfetta, it was a very fast race. In the first hour, the peloton averaged 55 kilometres. Kruijswijk was well protected by his team and tried to save as much energy as possible for the difficult final. Kruijswijk had to do without Bram Tankink who crashed after 50 kilometres. Tankink lost some skin, but was able to continue racing his Giro.

Leader Bob Jungels fell and threw a spanner in the works for LottoNL-Jumbo, which wanted to play the sprint card with Battaglin in Peschici. Quick Step led the chase behind the race leaders and seemed ready to close the gap when the crash occurred. At that point, they eased up for their fallen leader.

"I'm a little disappointed because this was a good chance for me," said Battaglin. "I felt good and wanted to score today because these kinds of arrivals suit me, but things went a bit differently. The main goal is the general rankings with Steven. Still, there are still opportunities ahead."

Kruijswijk looking ahead to the first real test with the difficult Blockhaus summit finish tomorrow. He expects fireworks on the 13.6-kilometre climb.

"It will be full-throttle tomorrow,” Kruijswijk said. “I think the riders would like to test each other, as this is the first real arrival uphill. If the race allows, I want to take back time."