Biniam Girmay, Fernando Gaviria, Arnaud De Lie, Mads Pedersen, Dylan Groenewegen, Phil Bauhaus, Fabio Jakobsen: the cream of the best sprinters in the world (with the exception of the big favorite Jasper Philipsen, cut off shortly before by a fall) – in yesterday’s strict order of arrival – and immediately after Davide Ballerini. Yes, the Cantù rider of Astana Qazaqstan placed eighth in the third stage of the Tour de France, from Piacenza to Turin. The last entirely Italian stage, since today after the departure from Pinerolo it will cross the border into France and then remain there until the final finish line in Nice on July 21st.
The “Ballero” thus describes his sprint, explaining the reason why he did not find himself at the service of captain Mark Cavendish in search of victory n.35 at the Tour which would mean an absolute record, even better than Eddy Merckx. «Unfortunately we lost each other 5 kilometers from the finish line – he says -. I was on the left, the others on the right and were involved in the fall. Then they told me on the radio to sprint, but I was closed and I did not have the space to try to sprint properly».
