'No point in attacking' – Final climb at Giro d’Italia was too easy, suggest Jai Hindley and Dan Lloyd

Eurosport expert Dan Lloyd admits there was «no point» for any of the favourites to attack on Stage 15 at the Giro d’Italia as the final climb was not hard enough. Sunday was predicted to be another big day in the fight for the maglia rosa after the Bora-hansgrohe detonation on Saturday that saw Simon Yates (BikeExchange-Jayco) win, Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) take pink and Bora’s Jai Hindley move seven seconds off the lead. Ad/> It was anything but.

While Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) lit up proceedings by blowing apart a 27-strong breakaway to win, the action behind was subdued. Giro d'ItaliaYates and Carapaz involved in 'clumsy' crash and big pile-up10 HOURS AGO The final Cat. 2 climb to Cogne looked tough on first glance, but a closer inspection of the 22km ascent revealed 15km at a palatable 4%.

With Ineos Grenadiers controlling things on the front of the main bunch, ready to shut down any moves, Carapaz’s GC rivals elected to sit in the tow and save their attacks for the final week. “Setting off this morning there would have been a lot of fear amongst the riders, if it would be another tough stage like yesterday,” said 2012 Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins on Eurosport’s coverage afterwards. “But it was a stage that was easier than it could have been.

I think it could have been a lot harder and riders could have been in a lot more danger.” One rider expected to be lively was Hindley, who beat Carapaz in a sprint on Saturday to claw back bonus seconds in the battle for the maglia rosa. But the Australian was among those to suggest it was pointless attacking on the final climb, given it would likely end in a stalemate. “I think there were a lot of tired bodies out there.