A moment of sporting history and a moment of heart-bursting good sportsmanship and respect. Mattieu Van der Poel was outsprinted by the brilliant 22 year-old Eritrean Biniam Girmay, and had the good grace to acknowledge it with a thumbs up and warm congratulations. I think whatever else happens in this race, that is what many of us will remember. This was at the end of a thrilling finale of attack after attack from puncheurs, GC favourites, big name riders looking for a stage win, as Yates, Nibali, Carapaz, Van der Poel and others tried to get away. The likes of Demarre, Ewan and Cavendish were left behind on the roller-coaster hills of Abruzzo and Ancona (they may still be making their way in now…). In that high-octane sprint and the explosion of emotions afterward, all that went before – the crash of Carapaz, the plucky breakaway, the chase & catch and the debate about “Bottlegate” (1) – would be forgotten.

(1) Evidently the UCI think it’s OK to chuck stuff at fellow riders on the move, but you can get thrown off the race for “littering”.

Team of the Day

Paul W’s Don’t ruin it for me are setting out to spoil it for everyone else: 5 (FIVE) riders in the TOP TEN.(2) So another monster score (806 velopoints) on the day, extending the team’s lead in the mini-league, followed at some distance by Stay upright, damn it! (they’re doing just fine, Martin, calm down!) Paul has also gone ahead in the tally of top 10 finishers. Speaking of which, can you name the 2 riders in the peloton who have finished in the first 10 on 5 stages so far? (3)

(2) Extra points for anyone who got the reference there to the teleprinter off the football results on Saturday afternoon TV about 100 years ago. “FORFAR 5 (FIVE) – FIFE 4 (FOUR)” – ahh when we were all convinced that they had bigger goals (or smaller goallies?) in Scotland.

(3) One is today’s stage winner, Girmay; the other is Richard Carapaz, who is staying very alert. The difference is that Girmay has 5 in the top 5! Surely a points jersey winner in the making.

Flag of the Day

It just had to be: on the day the first black African cyclist became a Grand Tour Stage winner, Biniam Girmay’s national flag, which was waving proudly in the home straight. Could it be the standard flying to inspire a whole continent of undiscovered talent? The highlands of Kenya and Ethiopia have given the world a wealth of endurance runners, so look out for some future road cycling champions.

Eritrea has a chequered history and a grim present. It is amongst the most oppressive regimes in the world, a one-party state with unlimited military service for everyone under the age of 50. I hope today’s sporting achievement can be a cause of celebration and aspiration for the hard-pressed people of Eritrea.