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Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost) came of age Wednesday with an attack late on an unpredictable day to fend off an unstoppable Tadej Pogačar and win stage 17 at the Giro d’Italia.
The 22-year-old German rode into an early breakaway high in the soggy Dolomites, but attacked again just as things came back together in the intense climbing stage. Steinhauser comes from good cycling stock, with his father, Tobias, a former pro, and his uncle Jan Ullrich a former Tour de France winner.
“This is something unbelievable. Already on stage 8, I realized I had good legs and I thought I might be able to win a stage,” he said. “I went from the beginning in the breakaway. It was strange because we got caught. Then I decided to try again. I did and it worked out. The roads were wet and slippery. I was nervous on the last climb. I knew I had to push all the way to the finish. I heard that Pogačar was attacking but I was already with 2km to go.”
Ineos Grenadiers set the pace on the final climb, and the pressure saw Ben O’Connor (Decathlon-Ag2r La Mondiale) suffer at the back of the GC group.
Daniel Martínez (Bora Hansgrohe) accelerated to turn the screws in his battle with Geraint Thomas for the second step on the podium.
Overnight leader Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) seemed content to let the attackers have their day, but slipped clear in the closing kilometers of the summit finale to add even more time to ever-tightening grip on the pink jersey.
Steinhauser hit the red kite with 90 seconds on Pogačar, who was quickly distanced his GC rivals and whittled at the gap to Steinhauser.
“Today I was happy with Steinhauser to win. He did an incredible job. He was in the original breakaway and he went again. Chapeau to him,” Pogačar said.
How it happened: The breakaway goes
Everyone expected a big break to contest for the win a day after Tuesday’s controversial weather-shortened stage. Asuperstar group followed the script by pulling away over the HC Passo Sello right off the bat in the short but intense mountain stage.
Big names like Nairo Quintana (Movistar), Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step), Attila Valter (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious), along with Steinhauser, were among the attackers in the 10-rider group.
Giulio Pellizzari (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè), who was second to Pogačar in Tuesday’s stage, was also on the march on Wednesday. The Italian scooped up King of the Mountains points, including over the top of the Passo Rolle, which substituted as the “Cima Coppi” following rerouting of Tuesday’s stage.
Georg Slayhauser #GirodItalia pic.twitter.com/8jVLawYO8i
— Giro d’Italia (@giroditalia) May 22, 2024
The gap never really grew due to pressure from Team DSM-Fidermech-PostNL, who set up an attempt by Romain Bardet to attack with teammate Kevin Vermaerke, but Pogačar was all over the move.
The breakaway crumbled as the race came back together, and Steinhauser — who decided to try again — followed the attacking Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Lidl-Trek) who surged heading toward the penultimate climb.
Steinhauser, who was third in the queen stage to Livigno on Sunday, dropped the African on the final climb to the summit finale to carry a three-minute lead to the peloton with 8km to go.
“The queen stage to Livigno was an incredible day. My third place already made my Giro successful. And today, already when I rode to the sign on, I said to myself maybe I’ll win today,” he said. “Let’s hope this is the beginning of a big career.”
Pogačar couldn’t help himself and jumped to add more time to his lead, but Steinhauser had enough to celebrate at the line. He widened his lead to Martínez to 7:42, with Thomas hanging on in third at 8:04. O’Connor retained fourth, but slipped to 9:47 in arrears.
What’s next: Sprinters versus breakaway
The 2024 Giro continues Thursday with the final transition stage before a double-whammy weekend with two decisive climbing stages on tap Friday and Saturday.
The 178km 18th stage from Fiera di primiero to Padova is relatively straightforward, with some hilly terrain and one fourth-category climb that should produce the day’s main breakaway in the opening hour.
The big story will be if a breakaway can manage to open up a big enough gap to fend off the sprinter teams. With more than a few sprinters already gone, however, there might not be enough teams with proper depth to put on the chase.
“Tomorrow it’s a flat stage. Let’s hope for Molano to find some luck in a bunch sprint with Rui [Oliveira],” Pogačar said. “Then there’s one medium stage for a breakaway to win again and then, on Saturday Monte Grappa is an iconic stage, not far from Slovenia so I expect a lot of Slovenian fans, let see if I can win a fifth stage with the maglia rosa.”
