Giro d'Italia 2022 Stage 10 as it happened - History made as Biniam Girmay outlasts Mathieu van der Poel in epic sprint

Updated 17/05/2022 at 15:40 GMT

Welcome to Eurosport's coverage of Stage 10 of the 2022 Giro d'Italia. After the drama of Stage 9, Blockhaus, and a shake up of the General Classicifation a more leisurely mostly pancake-flat run from Pescara to Jesi awaits the peloton on Stage 10 after a well-earned rest day on Monday. Lumpy roads in the second half may coax out Mathieu van der Poel et al... Follow all the action with Felix Lowe.

‘Oh dear!’ – Van der Poel forced to change bikes… and then chain falls off at Giro d’Italia

Juan Pedro Lopez retains the pink jersey

All the GC favourites were present in that group of around 30 riders who crossed the line together in the wake of stage winner Biniam Girmay. That means there's no change to the top 10, with Spain's Juanpe Lopez (Trek-Segafredo) retaining his 12-second lead over Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emiraters).

Amstel Gold Race Men

'Not very concerned' - Van der Poel on rivals ahead of Amstel Gold Race

13/04/2024 at 15:00

Kelderman and Carapaz finish in top 5

In all the excitement I didn't report that it was Italy's Vincenzo Albanese who took third for Eolo-Kometa ahead of Wilco Kelderman (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers).

Here's the moment trailblazer Girmay made history for Africa

You'll be hard pressed to witness a more fiercely contested two-way sprint than this all season... capped with such a nice touch from Van der Poel to concede with such grace before paying his respects instantly to Girmay.

Girmay thanks Pozzovivo for unlikely lead-out

At the end it was the Italian veteran Domenico Pozzovivo of all people who launched Girmay on the home straight in what was a fantastic team effort from Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert.

Speaking after his historic win, Girmay just said: "All the team – even the GC riders like Pozzovivo, Jan Hirt, Rein Taaramae – were pulling and they did a great job. Then at the end Pozzo was amazing – he came to me and said, ‘Come’, with six-hundred metres to go, and he did a really good lead-out. It was amazing."

Bini gets the thumbs up from Van der Poel

And what an image from the finish as Mathieu van der Poel gives Biniam Girmay the thumbs up moments after he pulled up in that spring... An historic moment, a special moment, an inspirational moment! And to think the Eritrean sprinter had to fight back after going the wrong way with 6km to go...

Girmay breaks Van der Poel for historic win!

My, oh my! What a finish! What a sprint! History has been made as Biniam Girmay becomes the first black African rider to win a stage of the Giro d'Italia - and he did so by going early and going fast. Van der Poel did his best to reel him in but he had too much to do and the Eritrean just had too much power - they were almost level when the Dutchman gave up. Girmay had too much for him...

16:11 - Final kilometre

Carthy is reeled in and we now have a group of 30-odd riders - including Girmay, who is back - who will contest the win...

16:10 - Carapaz then Carthy have a dig

3km to go: What a finish this is. No sooner has Van der Poel been pegged back than Richard Carapaz has a go - and when that is snuffed out by Mikel Landa, It's Hugh Carthy who rides clear. He lost time on Blockhaus but this is very ambitious from the Briton.

16:07 - Yates attacks! Then Van der Poel!

6km to go: After a softener from his teammate Lucas Hamilton, the BikeExchange-Jayco rider pings off the front moments after a tricky corner saw Biniam Girmay go the wrong way... Terrible mistake from the Eritrean, who will have to battle back now. Van der Poel almost gets caught out but just changes his trajectory in time. All of a sudden, there's a quartet off the front including Yates and Van der Poel.

The Dutchman then soloes clear and opens up a gap with Davide Formolo of UAE in pursuit... all this after an earlier attempt by Vincenzo Nibali to go clear!

16:05 - Pozzovivo takes KOM points

8km to go: Working to bring it back together for his teammate Girmay, the Italian veteran reels in Covi and takes the 3pts over the top of the climb on the front of a peloton that only has around 40 riders left! Van der Poel and Girmay are still there...

16:03 - Demare dropped, Covi attacks

9km to go: That move from Foss came to nothing as Alpecin-Fenix ramped it up for Van der Poel, who rode with Girmay right in his wheel. Ineos Grenadiers then come to the front and set a hefty tempo through Pavel Sivakov. This has strung out the pack and Arnaud Demare won't be contesting the sprint today. Then Alessandro Covi of UAE puts in a big attack off the front... It's all happening!

15:58 - Foss attacks on final climb

12km to go: The pace is high as the pack hits the Cat.4 ascent to Monsano (4.2km at 4.2%). Jumbo-Visma were drilling the tempo heading to the foot of the climb and that's because they've launched Tobias Foss, the Norwrgian champion, for a dig.

15:50 - De Marche caught

20km to go: Gruppo compatto! The last man standing from the breakaway has been reeled in and so it's go, go, go towards the finish now - with the final climb standing between the riders and Jesi. Alpecin-Fenix currently drilling it on the front for their man Van der Poel.

15:41 - Naesen and Bais caught

25km to go: Only De Marchi up the road now after his two former breakaway companions are swept up by the Alpecin-led peloton, who trail the Italian lone ranger by 45 seconds. Earlier, their leader Mathieu van der Poel had some mechanical issues that saw him have to chase back on. Here's what happened...

‘Oh dear!’ – Van der Poel forced to change bikes… and then chain falls off at Giro d’Italia

15:35 - De Marchi goes solo, chasers caught

30km to go: That foray off the front from Juul-Jensen, De Bondt and Barnabas comes to an end shortly after Tom Dumoulin needs to stop for a mechanical. Meanwhile, on the front of the race that man De Marchi has decided that now's the time to go solo. Although he has three wins on the Vuelta, the Italian veteran has never won a stage of his home tour. The gap back to the pack us less than a minute now.

And we should mention that Fernando Gaviria, who was in difficulty earlier, seems to be right back into the mix now in the peloton as he bids to win his first Grand Tour stage since 2019.

15:30 - Juul-Jensen attacks from the pack... again

33km to go: Chris Juul-Jensen, who attacked earlier on today, zips clear on an uncategorised climb and he's quickly joined by Dries de Bondt of Alpecin-Fenix. Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert then send Peak Barnabas forward to settle the dynamic, and seeing this trio go clear has provoked a reply in the pack by Magnus Cort of EF Education-EasyPost.

15:24 - Ineos confirm Carapaz crash

38km to go: Ineos Grenadiers have just confirmed that Richard Carapaz went down in an earlier crash - and they even got a photo of the aftermath. The 2019 champion seems fine and is back in the peloton now, which trails the three leaders by 1:10.

15:16 - Bais wins the intermediate sprint at Filottrano

44km to go: It's Mattia Bais, who rides for Michele Scarponi's former team Drone Hopper-Androni Giacattoli, who takes the spoils in Filottrano ahead of Alessandro De Marchi and Lawrence Naesen. The spectators are out in their droves as they cheer the Giro with pink balloons and flags while also commemorating their fallen hero, who was tragically killed on these roads while out training in 2017 just days after his 21st and last professional win in the Tour of the Alps.

The Giro d'Italia twitter feed posted a nice thread about Scaponi earlier today...

15:14 - Not looking good for the trio

45km to go: The second intermediate sprint at Filottrano is coming up with the gap down to 1:40 for De Marchi, Bais and Naesen. Here was the moment earlier today when Mark Cavendish was distanced...

‘You don’t have to go this hard!’ – Cavendish distanced on climb on Stage 10

15:10 - VdP and Carapaz return to the peloton

47km to go: The Dutchman and the Ecuadorian are back in contention after their respective problems a little earlier. The pace is high as the race heads towards Michele Scarponi's hometown of Filottrano, where the parrot who used to accompany him on his training rides is currently waiting with his owner.

15:03 - Carapaz off the back

53km to go: It may be simply because he's changed back to his original bike after that earlier crash which wasn't caught by the cameras, but the Ecuadorian 2019 winner is behind the peloton now and riding with two Ineos teammates.

14:58 - Van der Poel mechanical!

55km to go: As the peloton comes to a crowded standstill on a bottleneck part of a climb, the Dutchman jumps off his bike to attend to an issue. It seems like he's got something stuck in his derailleur. He needs a bike change and when a new one eventually comes, the chain slips and he has to get his mechanic to sort it out. A comedy of errors from the Alpecin-Fenix leader, who is now back on his bike but almost a minute down on the pack.

14:55 - Gaviria feeling the pinch

57km to go: Fernando Gaviria is the latest sprinter to be tailed off the back. The Colombian tried to get in the break earlier today - probably because he predicted this outcome on these hills.

14:48 - Gap tumbling down for trio

63km to go: Their advantage has dropped two minutes in the last 30km and they now only have 2:30 over a peloton being led by both Intermarche and Alpecin-Fenix, who are clearly lining up a showdown between Mathieu van der Poel and Biniam Girmay. Will it be a second win for the Dutchman or a first ever for Eritrea and a black African on the Giro?

14:42 - Cavendish distanced

69km to go: Moments after the cameras catch De la Cruz being pegged back by the pack, we switch to the other end of the peloton and capture Mark Cavendish being tailed off. He should be able to fight back on the plateau that follows this climb - but there are still so many lumps and bumps which are apparently even steeper than the remaining categorised climb today (most notably the intermediate sprint atop the hilltop town of Filottrano) so it will be a huge surprise if Cav is there to contest the finale.

14:37 - Astana with the next token attack

71km to go: David de la Cruz kicks clear of the pack just ahead of the steepest 18% section of this climb, which earlier brought the three leaders to an almost standstill. Those riders are now onto the final 16% rise to the summit, grinding their way through a tunnel of spectators lining the road in Recanati. Behind, De la Cruz has only opened a gap of 30-odd metres so he'll be caught before the summit. It's De Marchi who goes over the top first to pocket another 3pts in the blue jersey standings.

14:31 - Trio onto the next climb

73km to go: De Marchi, Bais and Naesen hold an advantage of 3:50 as they start the toughest climb of the day, the Cat.4 ascent to Recanati. It's only 3.4km long but has an average gradient of 6.9% and segment in the middle that hits 18%.

14:24 - Carapaz crash?

76km to go: It appears that Richard Carapaz has gone down! The Ecuadorian has some dry grass on his jersey and he's currently on the back of the pack with Ineos teammate Riche Porte so it may be that he left the road on the earlier descent... He seems okay but that's a reminder of dangers of these narrow and twisting roads through Le Marche.

And Ewan has well and truly popped: the Australian pocket-rocket sprinter is pedalling squares and has no Lotto Soudal teammates with him. He rides with the demeanour of someone who may give up today before tomorrow's pan-flat stage where he - at least on paper - should be one of the favourites...

14:24 - Ewan in trouble

79km to go: The leaders are on the steep part of a descent ahead of a short climb that precedes the next categorised climb. They still have 4:05 over the peloton which is just on a small uphill lip that breaks up that descent - and it's proving a bit of a grind for Caleb Ewan, who is off the back of the pack... for now.

14:18 - De Marchi leads break over the summit

82km to go: The Italian veteran takes 3pts over the top of this first climb ahead of Bais and Naesen. The trio still has 4:20 over a peloton that is just about to catch Juul-Jensen after his brief foray up the front.

14:10 - First attack from the peloton

88km to go: And it's come from Chris Juul-Jensen of BikeExchange-Jayco. The Aussie-Dane quickly opens up a gap but will be dismayed that he's taken no one with him, you'd think. He gets over the little lump that precedes the gentle Cat.4 climb of Crocette di Montecosaro (4.9km at 2.2%).

14:06 - Race heads into the hills

91km to go: The leaders have hooked a left after the sprint and are now heading due west and into the hills of Le Marche. The first of three Cat.4 climbs comes shortly and, with Alpecin-Fenix now setting tempo on the front - in a bid to hurt and/or distance the sprinters - the gap is down to 4:10.

14:00 - Bais 'wins' intermediate sprint

95km to go: The Italian is allowed to ride through on the front of this trio to take the spoils at Civitanova Marche ahead of Naesen and De Marchi. When the peloton comes through 4:30 later it's Giacomo Nizzolo who powers clear for fourth place ahead of Arnaud Demare, Biniam Girmay and, oddly, Thomas De Gendt. The upshot of that is the Frenchman Demare extends his lead to 28pts in the magila ciclamino standings - and ensures that Girmay, even if he wins today, can't take over the jersey in Jesi. Demare now has 151pts with Girmay on 123pts.

13:52 - Nibali's five-hundred

100km to go: We're hearing that today marks Vincenzo Nibali's 500th Grand Tour stage, which is quite something. His total kilometres on the bike in GTs is over 81,000 which amounts to two times around the world. Talking of Nibali, his Astana-Qazaqstan team are using limited-edition water bottles paying homage to the late Michele Scarponi, whose home town of Filottrano the races passes through later today.

Intermediate sprint coming right up...

13:42 - Intermarche commit entire team to chase

107km to go: The impending intermediate sprint has seen Biniam Girmay's team come to the front and help with the pacing - bringing down the gap to 4:30 accordingly. The Eritrean shouldn't be too fazed by the climbs in the second half of today's stage and he's currently 27 points behind Arnaud Demare in the maglia ciclamino standings on a day where a maximum 37 points are up for grabs.

Meanwhile, here's some images from earlier of the official pink train running alongside the peloton with the Trofea Senza Fine - the Everlasting Trophy - being paraded through the window...

Helicopter captures Giro trophy speeding along in train window

13:25 - Simon Yates going nowhere... for now

There was talk of Britain's Simon Yates perhaps withdrawing from the Giro following his Blockhaus horror show on Sunday, where he lost 11 minutes after dual problems with his injured knee and the heat. You'd think he'd be better off resting up and refocusing on the Tour de France because he came into the Giro with superb legs and on top form - as shown by his TT win in Budapest. But BikeExchange-Jayco have not made that decision and Yates continues.

Yates may hope that he get into a break and claw back some of his deficit this week ahead of the mountainous finale next week - a bit like Guillaume Martin, who returned into the GC picture after getting in that break on the Naples stage on Saturday. But surely Yates has too much class to be given much leeway? Time will tell.

Opinion: Yates should quit Giro and target Tour after Blockhaus nightmare

13:15 - Gap starting to come down

125km to go: The advantage of the breakaway is popped below the five-minute mark now after the collaboration on the front of the peloton. They're still around 25km away from the intermediate sprint after which those hills come thick and fast. A quick reminder that the three escapees are Belgium's Lawrence Naesen (Ag2R-Citroen) and the Italian duo of Mattia Bais (Drone Hopper-Androni Giacattoli) and Alessandro De Marchi (Israel-Premier Tech).

13:02 - Movistar show their intent

135km to go: The race is passing through the Blackpool of Italy's Adriatic coast, San Benedetto del Tronto. German sprinter Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) will have good memories of this place - he won the final sprint of Tirreno-Adriatico here back on April. Movistar, meanwhile, have assembled their entire team near the front of the peloton - a sign that they perhaps fancy doing something today through one of their leaders Alejandro Valverde or Ivan Sosa.

The veteran Spaniard Valverde is still very much in the GC picture in 11th place at 1:23 but his younger Colombian teammate is almost six minutes down in 19th place so he may have a bit more leeway.

12:55 - Dumoulin's earlier joke with Lopez

Here's the moment Tom Dumoulin pretended to throw a bidon at the race leader Juan Pedro Lopez while the Spaniard was chatting to Dumoulin's Dutch teammate Sam Oomen, at whom Lopez really did throw a bidon during a heated echange on the climb to Blockhaus on Sunday. Nice to see that they can all joke about it and the water has passed under the bridge...

'Last person I would expect that from!' – Dumoulin pretends to chuck bottle at Lopez

12:40 - Intermarche commit a man to the front

150km to go: The Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert team of Biniam Girmay - another sensible pick for today's stage - have sent a man to help Alpecin-Fenix and Lotto Soudal on the front. The gap has hovered around the 6:15 mark for the past half hour. The big issue today - besides those climbs in the second half - will be the heat with the mercury pushing 30 degrees which is quite an atypical temperature for this time of year in Italy.

12:25 - Alpecin-Fenix come to the front to keep lid on break

160km to go: With the advantage rising to six minutes for the trio ahead, the Alpecin-Fenix squad of Van der Poel comes to the front to help out with pacing duties alongside Lotto Soudal. They won't want the gap to get so big that no countermoves can pull them in on the hillier second part of today's stage - especially with a guy like Alessandro De Marchi up the road.

There's been a flurry of mechanical issues, notably for Alejandro Valverde of Movistar - who needed to sort out his cranks - and Mark Cavendish of Quick-Step - who changed his bike. It's unlikely Cav will add another win today given the terrain later on but he should be in the mix tomorrow on the pizza-flat eleventh stage.

12:15 - Maglia rosa creams himself up

170km to go: The race leader Juanpe Lopez (Trek-Segafredo) is currently off the back of the pack and applying some suncream that he borrows from his team car. That's because it's a hot day here on the Adriatic coast with the temperature currently 27 degrees Celsius and not a cloud in the sky...

And when Lopez returns to the peloton, he rides up alongside Sam Oomen and shows that there's no lingering beef between them after the incident on Blockhaus when the pink jersey threw a bidon at the Dutchman in anger. Knowing that the camera is rolling, Tom Dumoulin has a little joke at Lopez's expense...

12:06 - Peloton lets this trio go

175km to go: So, it looks like we have the break of the day established - or, at least, the break of the first half of the day. Because at the halfway point, just after the intermediate sprint, the outlook changes dramatically as the race goes inland and tackles some of the steep hills of Le Marche around the home town of the late Michele Scarponi. We may see some counter attacks coming from the pack then and some fresh impetus into this stage.

For now, this trio of Naesen, Bais and De Marchi have a gap of three minutes - and it's still growing...

11:58 - Three riders ahead with a small gap

182km to go: Lawrence Naesen (Ag2R-Citroen), Mattia Bais (Drone Hopper-Androni Giacattoli) and Alessandro De Marchi (Israel-Premier Tech) have gone clear with a lead of around 20 seconds. Lotto Soudal are currently leading the chase through Thomas De Gendt, the stage winner in Naples. Perhaps the Belgian team have hopes that Caleb Ewan will be able to contest the finish today.

Etitrea's Merhawi Kudus (EF Education-EasyPost) has twice accelerated in a bid to join the leaders but on both occasions he fails to bridge over.

11:50 - The attacks keep on coming

189km to go: Magnus Cort and Fernando Gaviria are trying their luck which makes for an interesting duo. The Dane is a fast finisher and will love the second half of today's profile but the Colombian is more of a pure sprinter. That he's getting involved either suggests Gaviria doesn't trust his sprint, or doesn't think it's going to be a bunch sprint in Jesi. Both are very feasible.

11:45 - Stage 10 under way

196km to go: The flag goes down and the attacks come thick and fast with the Alpecin-Fenix team of Mathieu van der Poel particularly eager to get involved – most notably through Dries de Bondt. Others to roll the dice are Nans Peters, Mattia Bais, Mauro Schmid and Jaakko Hanninen as the peloton is all strung out as they leave Pescara behind in haste.

Remaining 166 riders in the neutral zone

Today's Stage 10 from Pescara to Jesi is a tale of two halves: an entirely flat opening 100km along the Adriatic coast leading up to the intermediate sprint followed by rolling roads as the race passes through Filottrano, the hometown of the late Michele Scarponi. The series of climbs are enough either to ensure a breakaway goes the distance or bring about a reduced sprint at the finish but should not have any impact on the GC. Here's what's on the menu, with almost 2,000m of climbing packed into the final 90-odd kilometres...

What can we expect from the second week of the Giro?

Just 20 seconds split the top five riders in the general classification ahead of the second week of the Giro d’Italia. But with only one summit finish and a series of stages that suit the sprinters and breakaway specialist, the next phase of the race may see the GC battle go on hold. Could Juan Pedro Lopez find himself still in pink ahead of the decisive final week?

In my rest day preview, I look at some of the key talking points from the opening week and that climax on Blockhaus before looking ahead at what's in store...

Blazin’ Saddles: What can we expect from second week of Giro d’Italia?

Romain Bardet, Mikel Landa and Jai Hindley ride in pursuit of Richard Carapaz on the climb of Blockhaus during Stage 9 of the Giro d'Italia 2022

Image credit: Getty Images

Hindley upsets heavyweights on Blockhaus - the story of Stage 9

A glorious summit showdown on the infamous Blockhaus saw Australia’s Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) edge Frenchman Romain Bardet (Team DSM) and Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) on a day of high drama on the Giro d’Italia.

Hindley, who famously lost the maglia rosa to Britain's Tao Geoghegan Hart on the final day of the 2020 Giro d'Italia, confirmed his return to form after taking the win in a six-way sprint by going long in the uphill finish and leading out around the final bend from the front.

Overnight leader Juan Pedro Lopez (Trek-Segafredo) fought back from a minor crash on the final ascent to limit his losses and hold onto the pink jersey by just 12 seconds over Portugal’s Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) entering the second of three rest days.

The new-look general classification has the top five riders separated by just 20 seconds with Bardet, Carapaz and Hindley moving up the standings behind Lopez and Almeida. But there’s no place in the GC picture for Britain’s Simon Yates after the BikeExchange-Jayco leader cracked early on the final climb on his way to shipping a whopping 11 minutes to his rivals.

Read the full report here.

How can I watch?

Each and every stage will be broadcast in its entirety on Eurosport, and GCN+, bookended by The Breakaway, presented by Orla Chennaoui and Dan Lloyd. Rob Hatch and Hannah Walker will be in the commentary box with regular contributions from pundits Robbie McEwen, Sean Kelly and Adam Blythe, with Bradley Wiggins doing his thing on the back of a motorbike.