'Headbutt them, elbow them' – Adam Blythe lifts lid on former team-mate’s sprint advice after Stage 13 finish

Stage 13 finished in a bunch sprint with Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ) sealing his third win in the 2022 edition of the Italian Grand Tour. The Frenchman held off Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious), Mark Cavendish (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team) and Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) after some ferocious jostling for position after a 150km ride from Sanremo to Cuneo, and the studio addressed the mechanics of a leadout during The Breakaway.

Ad/> Adam Blythe, who rode for Lotto-Soudal in 2019 and Orica GreenEdge in 2015, revealed that Caleb Ewan encouraged him to use the means — within reason — necessary to ensure that the Australian sprinter was positioned perfectly at the crunch time. Giro d'ItaliaOpinion: Bardet blow takes shine off Demare domination for France3 HOURS AGO “Caleb [Ewan] used to say to me in sprints, ‘if you're argy-bargying with people, headbutt them, elbow them, just get them out of the way,’” began Blythe.

“He doesn't care if I get relegated to the back of the bunch and he wins, it doesn't matter where I come. He was like, ‘just get your elbows out, push and move them, do what you have to do to get me to where I need to be’.

[He’d say] not in an awful way, ‘I don't care about you, the team cares about me, so do what you need to do.'" “It is a fine line between being disqualified and being relegated, but if you can just stay below the line and get relegated and they win, then perfect job.” The next sprint stage will come on Stage 18, a 152km ride from Borgo Valsugana to Treviso. Demare hat-trick as Cavendish and breakaway cruelly denied on Stage 13 ‘His condition worsened overnight’ – Shock as Bardet abandons Giro Giro d’Italia Stage 13 as it happened — Demare takes third win after nailbiting chase