The opening day of racing at Giro Ciclistico della Valle d’Aosta saw Team dsm-firmenich PostNL’s Development program take on a short 41 kilometre long mountain stage, finish atop the Passy (Plaine Joux) ascent. As expected on a stage like this, the action was on from the flag drop and despite a few small breakaway attempts the race was pretty much together heading onto the final climb. There the pace slowly ramped up and it became a race of attrition in the peloton with the team holding on for as long as possible, with Vincent Bodet leading the team home across the line.
Bodet said: “Today it was a very short stage at only 40 kilometres long, arriving at the top of long climb. It was also a very hot day so we had to drink a lot. In the first part of the race we stayed in a good position as a team and managed to avoid a crash in the peloton. Arriving at the bottom of the ascent I preferred to go at my own pace and not followed the very top riders, and ultimately I think I did a good climb. I managed to catch up lot of riders who started in front of me. In the end, Robbe and Oliver also finished close in time too so we will see what comes in the next hard days.”