Koen Bouwman (Jumbo-Visma) has taken his second stage victory of the Giro d'Italia, but this time in somewhat controversial circumstances. At the end of today's 178km stage 19 from Marano Lagunare to Santuario di Castelmonte, Bouwman was one of five survivors from the early breakaway battling it out for victory.
The Dutch rider got ahead in the sprint and took the two late left handers on the front, though squeezed Mauro Schmid (QuickStep Alpha Vinyl) on his inside twice on the two corners.
The second time it happened, just before the finish, Schmid had to brake hard and his back wheel looked up. That forced him to take the corner wide and it forced the riders just behind him to go slightly off course.
Attila Valter (Groupama-FDJ) and Andrea Vendrame (AG2R Citroën) were the two riders forced slightly off course and had to settle for 4th and 5th. Alessandro Tonelli (Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè) nipped in ahead of them to take 3rd behind winner Bouwman and runner-up Schmid.
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At the time of writing the result stands and it looked like Bouwman simply negotiated the final corners more cleverly than his rivals; getting in front and hugging the barriers tight so nobody could pass him on the inside.
Schmid, who won a great stage on the Giro last year, was not happy at the finish, saying taking 2nd place was "first loser" and was not what he was aiming for.
"In my opinion it was not a fair sprint, it was pretty clear because my handlebar was still in front and he (Bouwman) nearly crash in the last corner," he said. "He's slower in the sprint so he pushed me away.
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"And you'll see when you watch the last 100 metres... I can do nothing. It was not fair in my opinion and 2nd place is first loser so I'm not happy with that. I think I had it in the legs today and, of course, I'm disappointed."
Bouwman - who also won stage 7 - also wrapped up the climbers' classification today, making for a dream Giro in which he could target his own results after team leader Tom Dumoulin faded on Mount Etna and then abandoned the race.
Behind the breakaway, despite attacks from Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers), Jai Hindley (Bora-hansgrohe) and Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victoruious) on the final climb to the finish, they came over the line together some 3:56 down on the stage winner.
