Three days after his great performance in the breakaway in the eleventh stage of the Tour of Italy, Laurenz Rex showed himself again this Saturday, this time in the battle for the stage win as member of the early breakaway.
Just like three days ago, Rex was the first attacker of the day, escaping with a large group of almost 30 riders. They had an advantage of eight minutes on top of the Simplonpass (20 km at 6%), the only difficulty of the day after 50 kilometer.
Halfway through the race, the leading group had enough advantage to secure the stage win. The battle for the victory started with 65 kilometer to go and the group split under the impetus of Rex, who continued in the lead of the race together with three other men.
The 23 year old Belgian Grand Tour debutant never gave up, even though he lost contact with his breakaway companions with 10 kilometer to go. He followed the first chasing group, catching the leaders in the final hectometers and eventually sprinting for the stage victory.
Rex crossed the line in fourth position and became the sixth different rider of Intermarché-Circus-Wanty to achieve a top ten in at least one of the stages of this Giro.
« We were convinced that this fourteenth stage could be a good opportunity for the early breakaway. We decided yesterday evening with our sports director Valerio Piva that I would do what I could to be part of it. That's why I immediately attacked after the start. It was very windy, we ride really fast and hard all day. A big group eventually managed to escape and I made sure I was always racing in the front. I managed to escape with three others with 65 kilometer to go. We gave everything to win the stage. Even if I was dropped 10 kilometer before the finish line, I pushed in the chasing group to catch the three leaders in the last kilometer. I was completely empty and I was dying on the bike, but I wanted to finish in the top five so badly. I'm very proud about my performance today. »
