Ben Swift collected eighth place after Team Sky had strung out the peloton in the final kilometres of stage 10.
Team Sky line out the race in exciting finale
Ben Swift collected eighth place after Team Sky had strung out the peloton in the final kilometres of stage 10 at the Giro d'Italia.
The team hit the front to deliver an impressive turn of pace as the race hit the day’s only climb in Salsomaggiore, stretching the peloton to near-breaking point in the process.
After positioning work from Bernhard Eisel and Salvatore Puccio, it was Dario Cataldo who sprinted up the uncategorised ramp, before Edvald Boasson Hagen took over to ensure the pace remained high on the descent.
Swift stayed to the fore on the wheel of his team-mates, but as the race came back together in the final kilometres, a crash right in front of the Yorkshireman caused him to swerve heading into the final corner.
With his momentum halted slightly, the Brit ran eighth in the sprint, with the crash behind blocking the road. Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ) tightened his grip on the red points jersey with a third stage victory on the day.
The Frenchman was able to withstand the acceleration from Team Sky before being transported to the front just in time for the sprint. Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek Factory Racing) and former race leader Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEdge) rounded out the podium places on the day.
Day for a sprint
As action resumed after the rest day, the peloton took on 173km of racing out of Modena, with a sprint the likely outcome in Salsomaggiore Terme.
Two riders, Andrea Fedi (Neri Sottoli) and Marco Bandiera (Androni – Venezuela), hit out in the break and took up the unenviable gauntlet of out-running the peloton.
FDJ took up the chase and had help from Team Sky at points during the stage after the gap had reached 8:30 at its maximum.
The fireworks finally arrived in the closing stages with Team Sky putting on an impressive show of teamwork to set up Swift.
"The climb wasn't hard enough to split the field but we gave it a really good try," said Sports Director Dario Cioni after the stage.
"The race came back together in the final kilometres and as a result in the sprint Ben was a bit isolated. But we had to make it as tough as we could and it was a really good effort from the guys.
"Luckily we didn't have anyone caught up in the crash. Everyone is still a bit bruised up from last week but everyone is healthy and we're ready to go each day. We'll give it another go tomorrow."
