Archie Ryan (EF Education-EasyPost) was on the attack again at Coppi e Bartali as he took the racing to UAE Team Emirates and his former team mates at Visma-Lease a Bike.
And while it was Ryan's colleagues from last season who got the upper hand today, the Irishman's efforts off the front forced race leader Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) to come to the front himself and tow the remains of the peloton after him.
Ryan animated the final 30km of the race, forcing the pace on the front - and getting away several times - as he imposed his superiority over the field every time the road kicked up. The pressure applied, and the constant rises in the road, ensured the peloton was trimmed back to less than 20 men as the strongest did the damage at the front.
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In the end, though Ryan made much of the running, it was a move by Koen Bouwman (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Louka Matthys (Bingoal WB) that stuck. They went on to survive out front, after 132.2km of racing, to compete for victory; Bouwman taking the two-up sprint and also claiming the race lead.
The leading duo today was 13 seconds up on the remains of the bunch, just 19 riders, with Ryan in that group and claiming 11th place. He has slipped from 3rd overall this morning to 5th but is just 19 seconds down on Bouwman.
With about 30km to go today, and with the field already trimmed right back, Ryan managed to forge clear in a small group on a short and steep climb - some 2.6km at 9.5 per cent gradient. He had his team mate, Jefferson Alexander Cepeda, for company, as well as Paul Double (Team Polti Kometa) and Davide De Pretto (Team Jayco AlUla).
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Back in the peloton, down to less than 30 riders, race leader Ulissi was exposed and was forced to lead the chase himself. After he had spent some time pulling on the front, Johannes Staune-Mittet (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Domenico Pozzovivo (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè) attacked from the bunch and bridged across to the breakaway.
That formed a strong six-rider escape group, though they had only 11 seconds with 27km to go. Team Jayco AlUla then took up the chase back in the bunch and caught the breakaway group with about 25km to go.
Approximately 4km later, Ryan was jumping off the front again. And though he got a small gap for a brief spell, he and those he was with were caught. Almost immediately, Bouwman and Matthys attacked and went clear.
Ryan went again with 15km to go and was joined by Staune-Mittet, who initially did not work with the Irishman as he chased the two leaders 30 seconds up the road. Though Staune-Mittet then began working with Ryan, and they closed to within 10 seconds of the leaders, they did not catch them.
In the large chasing group, Lotto-Dstny went to the front and recaptured Staune-Mittet and Ryan with 9km to go, leaving the two leaders to go on and fight it out for stage victory. Jenno Berckmoes (Lotto Dstny) then won the sprint for 3rd place, 13 seconds down, at the head of the group containing Ryan and race leader Ulissi.
