Diego Ulissi ends Italy's Giro d'Italia drought to seize pink jersey
Ulissi came third in stage eight but his performance was enough to take the pink jersey from Slovenian Primoz Roglic as the Italian built up a slender 12-second lead over his teammate Lorenzo Fortunato, with Roglic a further five seconds back.
Ulissi screamed in delight when he was told the pink jersey was his as he became the first Italian since Alessandro De Marchi in 2021 to wear the jersey, ending a long wait for home fans that lasted 86 stages.
"I don't easily let myself be taken by emotions but when I was presented with the Maglia Rosa and saw XDS Astana stamped on it, I became emotional, I have to admit," Ulissi told reporters.
"I'm 35, soon 36 (in July). I've had nice satisfactions in my cycling career with eight stage wins at the Giro, I've built a nice family with three daughters.
"So when I first saw this jersey, I thought of all my family members, especially those who took me to races when I was a kid."
The stage victory, however, went to Australian Luke Plapp, who rode solo with 45 km for his first Grand Tour stage win.
Ulissi finished 38 seconds behind, losing a battle with Wilco Kelderman of Visma-Lease a Bike for second.
"Luke Plapp was superior. I'm happy with how I went on such a lumpy terrain. When I heard that I had to ride flat out till the finish, I understood that I had a chance to take the Maglia Rosa," Ulissi added.
"The choice of not communicating to me the exact gaps was the best thing to do in order to not disturb me. I have a long experience in cycling but I never had the Maglia Rosa before."
Stage nine is a 181 km ride from Gubbio to Siena in the Tuscany region in central Italy.
"Tomorrow, I'll try to give everything to defend it but it's a complicated stage that requires some luck as well," Ulissi said. Reuters.
Stage eight results
1) Luke Plapp (Jayco AlUla), in 4:44:20
2) Wilco Kelderman (Visma-Lease a Bike), +38'
3) Diego Ulissi (XDS-Astana), +38'
4) Igor Arrieta (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), +1'22'
5) Nicolas Prodhomme (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team), +1'35'
6) Andrea Vendrame (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team), +1'48'
7) Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS-Astana), +1'48'
8) Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost), +2'59'
9) Romain Bardet (Picnic PostNL), +3'02'
10) Alessio Martinelli (VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizane), +4'37'
General classification
1) Diego Ulissi (XDS-Astana), in 29:21:23
2) Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS-Astana), +12'
3) Primoz Roglic (Red Bull -BORA-hansgrohe), +17'
4) Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +20'
5) Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +26'
6) Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) +44'
7) Max Poole (Team Picnic PostNL) +47'
8) Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) +50'
9) Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +51'
10) Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike) +56'
Points classification
1) Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) 153pts
2) Alessandro Tonelli (Polti VisitMalta) 59
3) Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike) 55
4) Casper van Uden (Picnic PostNL) 50
5) Orluis Aular (Movistar) 42
King of the mountains (KOM) classification
1) Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS Astana) 98pts
2) Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 50
3) Paul Double (Jayco AlUla) 36
4) Manuele Tarozzi (VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizane), 32
5) Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 24
Young riders' classification
1) Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) in 29:21:43
2) Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +6'
3) Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) +24'
4) Max Poole (Team Picnic PostNL) +26'
5) Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +40'
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