Arnaud Démare earned his fourth stage victory at this year’s Giro d’Italia by winning the 11th stage in another mass sprint, and João Almeida held on to the overall leader’s pink jersey.
Démare edged Peter Sagan and Álvaro Hodeg at the end of the mostly flat 182km (113-mile) leg from Porto Sant’Elpidio to Rimini along the Adriatic coast. Fernando Gaviria was the first to launch his sprint, with 200 metres to go, but Démare responded immediately.
Giro d’Italia
(@giroditalia)Teamwork, precision and power.
The Last Km of @ArnaudDemare in Rimini: What a Sprint.Lavoro di squadra, tempismo e potenza.
L’ultimo chilometro di @ArnaudDemare a Rimini è una lezione di sprint.#Giro pic.twitter.com/QPbJnqXyoQ
Groupama-FDJ rider Démare also won the fourth, sixth and seventh stages, which also ended in mass sprints.
With about 30km remaining, Elia Viviani was hit by a motorbike as the peloton went around a roundabout. The Italian managed to get back on his bike and was helped back to the group by his team but could only finish 10th in the sprint.
Almeida remains 34 seconds ahead of Wilco Kelderman and 43 seconds ahead of Pello Bilbao.
Thursday’s 12th stage is a hilly 200km route that starts and ends in Cesenatico and features five categorised climbs.