ProTeam Jenno Berckmoes on the podium again in Coppi e Bartali

8 riders formed the early breakaway, among those also Harm Vanhoucke and Milan Donie. "The plan was to be attentive from the beginning, as we didn't really know how the situation would evolve in today's stage. It took some time until a breakaway was formed. We got on the longest climb of the day and there both Milan and Harm did a perfect job, going with a nice group", Jenno Berckmoes says.

The group didn't get a big advantage, in the middle of the stage everything came back together. On the climbs the bunch split open. With 30 kilometers to go, the riders still had to tackle the steepest climb of the day, with 2.5 kilometers above 10%. "We survived the climb with only 20 guys, among them Sylvain (Moniquet), Harm (Vanhoucke), Logan (Currie) and myself. We were super strong again collectively, but it was difficult to control all the attacks. Just before the last climb Koen Bouwman (Visma - Lease a Bike) and Louka Matthys (Bingoal WB) escaped. We hesitated a bit, but my teammates still took out everything, we just came too short."

Jenno Berckmoes easily wins the sprint for the third spot, which sees him taking his second podium this week. "It's quite sad that we didn't take them back anymore, as you see I still win the sprint. My teammates did everything they could, unfortunately two guys stay in the front. Of course a victory would be nicer, but we still have two stages to go."

Picture: PhotoNews