Koen Bouwman powers to maiden Grand Tour stage win, Juan Pedro Lopez stays in pink at Giro d'Italia

A stage for the ages in the Southern Apennines saw Jumbo-Visma bounce back from their early disappointments with a maiden Grand Tour stage win for Koen Bouwman and a stirring performance from the Dutchman’s teammate and compatriot Tom Dumoulin. The 2017 Giro champion was part of the day’s breakaway and then battled back in numerous occasions during a thrilling finale before helping to set up Bouwman for the win. The 28-year-old Bouwman kicked from the wheel of his teammate to make light of the final double-digit ramp to the line and deny compatriot Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) and Italy’s Davide Formolo (UAE Team Emirates) in Potenza.

Ad/> The biggest win of Bouwman’s career was supplemented by the blue jersey after the blonde-haired climber secured maximum points over three of the day’s four categorised climbs. Giro d'Italia'Thankfully he stayed on!' — Dumoulin nearly wiped out by own team carAN HOUR AGO It was the outgoing blue jersey of Lennard Kamna (Bora-Hansgrohe) who led the main field home just under three minutes in arrears as Spain’s Juan Pedro Lopez (Trek-Segafredo) secured the race leader’s pink jersey, which at one point was in the virtual hands of that man Bouwman. “It’s unbelievable, I can’t believe it – especially after such a hard day,” Bouwman said moments after his win.

“In the final we were four guys with the two of us – and Tom did a superb job in the last two kilometres. I was feeling good but one time on the previous climb I had some troubles. “But I came back and I was actually confident for the sprint.

I’m so happy. It was steeper than I thought but when I started my sprint I felt I had so much power left and so I knew I was getting close to the victory. And with 50 metres to go I looked behind