Magnier questions Movistar’s tactics on brutal Giro day - 'I don’t know if they did it for the show'

The stage was won by Alec Segaert (Bahrain Victorious), who attacked inside the final three kilometres and held off the reduced front group to take a memorable solo victory. Magnier, who had started the day as one of the leading sprint contenders, eventually finished 91st, 7:15 down.

For Magnier, the decisive moment came on the Colle Giovo, where Movistar committed fully to a brutal acceleration from the foot of the climb. The move immediately put the fast men under pressure. Magnier and Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) were among the first big names to lose contact, with Movistar seemingly trying to remove the sprinters from contention and set up Orluis Aular for the finish.

Magnier, however, was left unconvinced by the approach.

“It’s hard to understand Movistar’s tactic, to be honest,” he said afterwards to CyclingPro.net. “I think they have a fast guy, but I don’t know if they did it for the show or if it was really to try to win the stage. In the end, they dropped the sprinters, but they didn’t take the stage.”

They did, at least, give the race its spectacle. Movistar’s pressure ended the day’s breakaway with 67 kilometres to go and turned what might have been a tense sprint stage into a far more chaotic battle of survival. But while Aular remained in contention deep into the finale, the Venezuelan was unable to convert the team’s work into victory.

Magnier was already in difficulty before the final climb.

“I was already on the limit on the first climb,” he said. “Then it calmed down slightly, but Movistar started putting on a hell of a pace. I think they were also chasing the motorbike a bit, but that’s also the game. On the last climb, I never really recovered. I was on the limit, and then I tried to send it on the descent, but it was too late.”

Speaking in French moments later, Magnier described the day as a mixture of satisfaction and disappointment. He had kept the points jersey, but the chance of a stage win had gone.

“It’s a bit of a mix of feelings,” he said. “I’m happy to keep the jersey, but it’s a shame to miss out on the stage victory.”

The 21-year-old said he had emptied himself trying to survive the climbs, only losing touch close to the summit.

“I think I did a good climb. I really went all in. Movistar were riding very, very fast, and I was dropped about two kilometres from the top. It wasn’t far, but that’s how it is.”

Even after losing contact, Magnier briefly held out hope that the race might come back together on the descent. The gap hovered at around 55 seconds for a while, but once the front group organised and the road flattened out, the door closed.

“I still hoped to come back,” he said. “You never know. Maybe it can slow down at the bottom of the descent, or if a leader crashes, something can happen. But unfortunately, it wasn’t for today.”

The heat only added to the difficulty. Magnier said his recent altitude camp in Nevada had helped him cope with the conditions, but he still paid for a costly detail on the final climb.

“I think everyone suffered with the heat,” he said. “I did an altitude camp in Nevada, and it was quite hot there, so I was a little used to it. But it was important to hydrate. I also threw away all my bottles at the bottom of the climb, so I had no water left on the ascent. That made it difficult.”

His next clear chance should come in Milan, on terrain far better suited to his strengths.

“The next chance is in Milan,” Magnier said. “I think it’s much flatter, so it will suit me much more.”