Giro 2023: Bais wins on Gran Sasso, Leknessund stays in pink

foto: Cor VosBreakaway riders Davide Bais, Simone Petilli and Karek Vacek battle it out on the Gran Sasso. Bais drops his companions in the last few hundred metres to emerge victorious. The GC riders keep their heads down and Andreas Leknessund retains the pink jersey. (Slideshow route/profile)

Results 7th stage 2023 Giro

1. Davide Bais (ita)
2. Karel Vacek (cze) + 0.09
3. Simone Petilli (ita) + 0.16
4. Remco Evenepoel (bel) + 3.10
5. Primoz Roglic (slo) s.t.
6. Thibaut Pinot (fra) s.t.
7. Thomas Champion (fra) s.t.
8. João Almeida (por) s.t.
9. Eddie Dunbar (irl) s.t.
10. Christian Scaroni (ita) z.t

GC after stage 7
1. Andreas Leknessund (nor)
2. Remco Evenepoel (bel) + 0.28
3. Aurélien Paret-Peintre (fra) + 0.30
4. João Almeida (por) + 1.00
5. Primoz Roglic (slo) + 1.12
6. Geraint Thomas (gbr) + 1.26
7. Aleksandr Vlasov (rus) s.t.
8. Tao Geoghegan Hart (gbr) + 1.30
9. Lennard Kämna (ger) + 1.54
10. Damiano Caruso (ita) + 1.59

Race report
The riders leave Capua in rainy conditions. Davide Bais, Henok Mulubrhan, Simone Petilli and Karek Vacek do not seem to mind and they jump clear at kilometre 5. The four carve out a lead of 10 minutes.

Mulubrhan is dropped in the climb to Roccaraso. The other three widen the gap to over 13 minutes.

Bais, Petilli and Vacek still enjoy a 6 minutes when the road ramps up in the last kilometres. So, one of them is going to triumph.

It is Bais who launches the sprint with a few hundred metres to go. He looks around to discover that his companions of the last six hours are nowhere to be sees. Ihe 25-year old Italian keeps pushing to take the first win in his career.

Leknessund finishes 3 minutes later in the peloton to extend his GC lead.

Another interesting read: route 7th stage 2023 Giro.