Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R) revealed that he was sick and struggling to breathe on stage 17’s remaining ascent at Passo Brocon of the Giro d’Italia on Wednesday however continued to combat to defend his fourth place total.
Georg Steinhauser (EF Schooling-EasyPost) soloed to victory on stage 17 as a battle for the general classification performed out behind the German rider on the ultimate ascent.
Maglia rosa Tadej Pogačar (UAE Crew Emirates) surged on the higher slopes with two kilometres to go and crossed the end line in second place behind Steinhauser.
Pogačar completed 18 seconds forward of a gaggle that included his total classification rivals: Dani Martínez (Bora-Hansgrohe), Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers), Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious), Einer Rubio (Movistar), and Romain Bardet (Crew dsm-firmenich PostNL).
O’Connor was initially with this group however then struggled to carry the tempo and was distanced with slightly below three kilometres to go. He completed in twelfth place on the day however misplaced over a minute to Pogačar within the GC standings.
O’Connor remains to be fourth total, 9:47 down on Pogačar however is 1:03 behind Thomas and solely 42 seconds forward of Tiberi.
O’Connor may very well be heard coughing closely as he modified on the summit. He believes that he may very well be ‘preventing one thing’ on the subject of his normal well being however hoped it will cross earlier than the mountainous stage 20 on Saturday.
“I used to be simply struggling to breathe, so simply preventing one thing, so only a bit common. It was a bit unhappy at this time. It wasn’t my greatest,” O’Connor stated.
“Right now was actually, actually exhausting. It is with the climate, the difficult descents and the moist roads all day made it a day the place you could not swap off.
“Tomorrow (Thursday’s flat stage to Padova), hopefully, will give the lungs a little bit of a relaxation and be prepared for the ultimate couple of days,” O’Connor added with hope and optimism.
“I am not at my greatest in the mean time, however hopefully, I will be good by Saturday.”
Friday’s stage climbs to Sappada, whereas Saturday’s penultimate stage is 184km from Alpago to Bassano del Grappa, and the ultimate mountain stage earlier than the stage 21 finale in Rome consists of two ascents of Monte Grappa.
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