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They had resisted everything: the difficult third category hill which slowed down Elia Viviani or the difficulty of making their place in the last kilometers of the first big massive sprint of this Giro. The Cofidis riders worked hard to seize this opportunity. Elia Viivani finished 5th, a few centimeters behind the winner of the day, Arnaud Démare.
They gave it all
A little earlier, the Italian had managed to get back into the peloton despite the slowdown during the ascent of Portella Mandrazzi, a 3rd category climb. With about 20 kilometers to go, Cofidis was at the front of the peloton, thanks to a great work by Stéphane Rossetto.
In the final meters, Simone Consonni made the effort to place his leader as well as possible and helped Viviani to finish on the 5th place. Despite the legitimate disappointment, the northern team showed that they were in tune and up with the pace of the best teams of sprinters.
The ascent to the North continues
This day is not over yet. Tonight, the whole team will take a boat in order to leave Sicily and join the continent. The ascent towards the north of Italy continues tomorrow with 225 km to be covered between Mileto and Camigliatello Silano. This stage would be a battle field for climbers and breakaway specialists: three passes to be climbed, two of 3rd category and one of 1st category, before a downhill finish
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