This Sunday 12th of May, young grand tour debutant Madis Mihkels achieved another good result in the Giro d’Italia by taking sixth place in the sprint in Naples at the end of the ninth stage.
The 20 year old Estonian however has to deal with the consequences of a crash in the sixth stage with the gravel roads. With perseverance, he completed the time trial on Friday and the stage in Abruzzo towards the summit of Prati di Tivo the day before with his left hand and leg bandaged.
Once again, for this long stage of 214 kilometers between Avezano and Naples, he received the support of all his teammates in the preparation for the sprint, after having survived the five short hills in the final. With this sixth place, Madis Mihkels obtains his third top 10 in this Giro.
“We started this Giro d'Italia very well, with a podium for Biniam Girmay and the KOM jersey for Lilian Calmejane. Biniam was our greatest hope for a stage victory in this Tour of Italy, but unfortunately he was forced to abandon following a double crash. So I took on the role of sprinter. But on my turn, during the gravel stage in Tuscany, I was also involved in a heavy crash. My body is suffering a lot, so this morning at the start I was more focused on my recovery and survival. We did race well collectively, and I was eventually able to secure another top ten. Considering the circumstances this is nice. As this is my first Grand Tour, I don't know how I will feel in the second and third week. I hope to recover well and seize other opportunities."
