Felix Großschartner fell badly at the Giro: Pogacar is worried about the Marchtrenker

Jonathan Milan won the eleventh stage of the Giro d’Italia in a mass sprint and celebrated his second day’s victory in this year’s Tour of Italy.

• Also read: Former Linz winner has gone into hiding

The 23-year-old Italian (Lidl-Trek) prevailed on Wednesday after 207 km from Foiano di Val Fortore to Francavilla al Mare ahead of Tim Merlier (Quick-Step) and Kaden Groves (Alpecin) and extended his lead in the points classification. The Slovenian top favorite Tadej Pogacar continues to wear the pink jersey.

The Slovenian Giro dominator didn’t feel like laughing after the eleventh section. The reason: About 20 kilometers from the finish, Felix Großschartner, one of the most important helpers of UAE star Pogacar, fell as well as sprinter Fabio Jakobsen and landed in the meadow next to the side of the road. The 30-year-old Upper Austrian was able to climb back up after a short break with his face distorted in pain.

As the last in the stage, Großschartner fought his way to the finish. “I hope he’s okay. He’s super important for the team and for me,” said a noticeably worried Pogacar into the TV cameras.

Fabio Jakobsen involved in two crashes

Jakobsen was doubly unlucky; the Dutchman was also involved in a mass crash shortly before the finish.

The eleventh stage was characterized by a three-man breakaway group with Cofidis professional Thomas Champion and the Visma duo Tim Van Dijke and Edoardo Affini. The trio was caught by the sprinter teams just under 35 km from the finish. The Dutch Visma team had to accept their fourth retirement before the start of the stage, and shooting star Cian Uijtdebroeks was unable to continue due to illness. The 21-year-old Belgian was in fifth place in the overall standings and wore the white jersey of the best young rider.

On Thursday, 193 km from Martinsicuro to Fano are on the program, the twelfth section of this year’s cycling tour of Italy is peppered with several short but steep climbs.