This elblow proved one of the key moments of stage 10 on the Giro and saw the rider leading fly off down the hill and win the stage.
Let’s not take anything away from him because young Giulio Ciccone (Bardini-CSF) took a fantastic stage win at the Giro d’Italia yesterday.
But while the 21-year-old neo pro rode a great race and took his chance when it came, the manner in which he found himself out front alone was odd.
He was in the breakaway of the day on the 219km trek from Campi Bisenzio to Sestola.
And coming down the penultimate climb with just over 13km remaining to the finish he found himself clear with team mate Stefano Pirazzi and former Giro winner Damiano Cunego (Nippo-Vini Fantini).
As the video below shows, the eventual stage winner was leading the group of three going into a bend when Pirazzi seemed to be having problems controlling his speed.
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He bumped into Cunego, sending him towards the barrier on the side of the road and forcing him to round the bend wider and slower than he was about it.
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The clash meant a gap opened up between leader Ciccone; an advantage he pressed home.
He led up the final climb and took the victory, while Pirazzi and new king of the mountains were caught by chasers behind Cunego.
To be fair, it really did look like Pirazzi had elbowed Cunego only after making a mess of the corner, but it undoubtedly resulted in Ciccone going clear solo, even if he still had a mountain to climb to take the win.
On a day when their team leader Mikel Landa abandoned with illness, Team Sky’s Nicolas Roche was 33rd some 4:29 down and Philip Deignan was 139th at 27:33.
That eblow...
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Highlights stage 10
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