Today’s stage presented a profile that perfectly suited our climber’s skills, and they did not disappoint. Starting in Schio, the peloton had to face a total of 137 km, which included two categorized climb before finishing atop of a first category one. Quickly after the stage started a group of 19 riders moved away from the main group, with Edoardo Affini representing the Academy colors in the front. Bad luck was on the side of Daan Hoole who crashed in a downhill but could get back on the bike without any major inconvenience. 

The race situation reminded the same until the peloton reached the bottom of the last climb. It was then when Edoardo Affini waited for the peloton as set the pace for the first part of the climb before Jan Maas took over and broke the main group down into pieces until they reached the 5-kilometer mark. With a long way to the top, our Welsh climber launched an unmatchable attack and went solo. The gap was getting bigger when Williams took the head of the race, and it did not decrease. The Welshman took the win and was 26 seconds faster than his closest rival. 

After seven stages, Williams sits third on the overall classification just 57 seconds down on the current Maglia Rosa. The next two days are going to be crucial as three stages will be held in that period of time, including a 22 km long time trial as the very last showdown. 

Stevie Williams holds three stage wins under his belt in 2018:
“I am over the moon today, after the disappointment that was giving the Maglia Rosa away I was determined, motivated and a bit angry so I wanted to do well in that climb. Winning a stage here it is really nice and rewarding, something special basically. I tried to save as much energy as possible before the last climb and it was much easier to do thanks to the help of my teammates. Jan (Maas) was by my shoulder on every kilometer, whenever I needed something he was there. The next two days we will fight for GC and see how far we can get”.