You might be alarmed to hear that Joey Rosskopf in 116th was the only American to place in the top 130 on Thursday. It wasn’t all that bad though as all five Americans were actually part of the 166-man peloton so their actual positions didn’t cost them at all. As you’d expect with a massive peloton overall positions barely changed on the day with Nathan Brown remaining the top American, still in 50th place and 38:56 back. Joe Dombrowski remains 53rd with Chad Haga moving up one spot to 98th.
Friday they will return to a medium-mountain stage 106 miles in length.
Joey Rosskopf had been the top American in two stages so far in the Giro d’Italia but neither of them had been nearly as impressive as his 40th place finish in stage 11. Rosskopf finished 1:49 back in a medium-mountain stage that saw many riders over 5 minutes back. He was the only American in the top 100 on Wednesday. Nathan Brown continues to be the top American, now 50th place 38:56 back. Joe Dombrowski is 53rd with Chad Haga rounding out the three Americans in the top 100 as he is currently 99th.
Thursday will be the first flat stage since stage three, only 113 miles as well.
Other than Chad Haga’s two top 20 finishes in the time trials no American had finished higher than 23rd in a stage of the Giro d’Italia so far. That changed in a big way on Tuesday as Nathan Brown posted a fourth place finish on the competitions first day back from a rest day. There was a lot of separation at the front as Brown was 1:53 back of the winner and over a half minute behind third place. Brown moved into the top 50, now sitting at 42nd and 26:56 back. For the first time in the Giro d’Italia there were two Americans in the top 50 of a stage as Joe Dombrowski was 40th, 4:29 back. Dombrowski is now in 50th place, 31:51 back. Haga made it three in the top 100 as he placed 75th and moved into the top 100 in 85th. Ian Boswell still sits in the top 100 overall in 90th.
Wednesday will be a 141-mile medium-mountain stage.
Chad Haga hadn’t placed higher than 76th since his 12th place finish in the day one time trial so it should come as no surprise that he had his best finish since then on Sunday when the second time trial of the event was held. This time Haga was 18th, 2:12 back, and the only American to place in the top 100. Nathan Brown continues to be the top American overall, 27:19 back in 61st, with Joe Dombrowski 64th and Ian Boswell 77th.
After Monday’s off day the competition resumes with an 136-mile medium-mountain stage on Tuesday.
It was a better day for the Americans in terms of place as Nathan Brown in 67th and Joe Dombrowski in 68th both had top 75 finishes for the US. Unfortunately while their place was higher their time back from the leaders was much higher as they were both 10:05 behind the winner. Joey Rosskopf made it three Americans in the top 100 with an 82nd finish. Brown is now the top American in 59th, 23:51 back, with Dombrowski 63rd and Ian Boswell falling to 73rd.
Sunday will feature a 25-mile time trial before a rest day on Monday.
There are only five Americans still going in the Giro d’Italia after Larry Warbasse dropped out. Velonews.com is reporting he dropped out after having numbness in his leg over the last few days.
The five that were left in the race did not have strong finishes on Friday with none making it into the top 100 of stage seven. Three Americans are still in the top 100 overall with Ian Boswell leading the way in 52nd, 13:47 back. Nathan Brown is 57th and Joe Dombrowski 63rd, both over 90 seconds behind Boswell.
On Saturday there is a 116 mile medium-mountain stage. It’s the last long stage before the second rest day of the event.
Joe Dombrowski made it four different top American finishers in four stages at the Giro d’Italia as he posted a 23rd place finish on Thursday, the second best stage finish by an American so far. Tim Wellens of Belgium ran away with the stage winning by 1:19 and Dombrowski was part of a group just 24 seconds behind second place. Dombrowski jumped into 56th overall. Nathan Brown made it two in the top 50 with a 49th place finish, 4:03 back, and is 53rd overall. Ian Boswell is still the top American overall, 10:53 back in 50th, and was 65th on Thursday. Chad Haga made it four Americans in the top 100 with a 76th place finish.
Friday will be a 131-mile hilly stage as the competition heads into its second weekend.
The top finishes are fading for the Americans as on Wednesday in stage five the best American was Joey Rosskopf who finished 88th and 58 seconds back. The only other one to finish in the top 100 was Nathan Brown who was 1:48 back in 99th. Despite failing to place in the top 100 on Wednesday Ian Boswell is still the top American overall in 68th, 6:26 behind the leader, while Brown is still in the top 100 at 95th overall, 9:57 back.
Thursday is back to a medium-mountain stage, though only a 98 mile one.
The Chad Haga top ten storyline came to an abrupt end on Tuesday as he finished more than six minutes off the pace in 105th and fell to 77th overall. Rising to the occasion was Ian Boswell who posted an American best 44th, just 43 seconds back, and climbed to a US-best 54th overall, 3:14 back. Nathan Brown and Joe Dombrowski went 57th-58th, 1:11 back, as Brown snuck back into the top 100 overall, 8:13 back in 97th.
Chad Haga was the only American who was able to stay in the 94-man peloton on Sunday and moved into ninth place for the overall standings as the Giro d’Italia wrapped up its three day start in the Netherlands. Haga was 87th, following up on a 147th finish in stage two, but showed that being in the peloton was the crucial thing in staying near the top after his strong time trial to begin the event. Haga is now 25 seconds behind the leader and the only American in the top 100.
After a rest day on Monday the competition resumes in Italy with a 124-mile medium-mountain stage on Tuesday as the field should start to separate.