Professional cyclist Lennard Kämna missed out on his second stage win at the 105th Giro d'Italia, Emanuel Buchmann will probably have to give up all hopes of a podium finish.
On the 202-kilometre mountain stage from Salò to Aprica, Kämna finished in seventh place after a strong performance. The stage win went to Jan Hirt from the Czech Republic. Kämna had previously won the fourth stage on Mount Etna and also led the race for a long time on Tuesday.
In the overall standings, Richard Carapaz from Ecuador defended the leader's pink jersey, but is now only three seconds ahead of Kämna's Australian team-mate and third-placed Jai Hindley. Buchmann, who started the stage in seventh place overall, lost almost three minutes on Carapaz and Co. and is now eighth. However, the 29-year-old is already 4:01 minutes off the podium.
Kämna secures important bonus seconds
Kämna made it into the day's well-staffed escape group on what Buchmann categorised as the "most brutal stage". The North German was already one of the strongest riders on the dreaded Mortirolo halfway through the stage. Around 21 kilometres before the finish, Kämna broke away from three escapees and was then overtaken by Hirt on the last climb, the very steep Santa Cristina, especially in the second part, just a few kilometres before the mountain classification.
Buchmann had lost touch with the group of favourites on Santa Cristina. In the steepest section, the Spaniard Mikel Landa attacked, with only Carapaz and Buchmann's team-mate Hindley following the Spanish climbing specialist. Hindley made the strongest impression in the small group, which eventually also caught up with Kämna, and ultimately secured important bonus seconds in the sprint.
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