Lorenzo Fortunato and Diego Ulissi didn't win the stage yesterday, but today they will start at the front, one with the blue mountain classification jersey and the other with the pink leader's jersey. They are both XDS Astana riders and have an excellent relationship. Lorenzo won the blue jersey in Albania, and now his teammate has donned the pink jersey.

Luke Plapp (Team Jayco-AlUla) won the Castelraimondo stage and Ulissi, thanks to third place, took the pink jersey from Roglic, while Lorenzo Fortunato aimed to score important mountain points to consolidate his best climber jersey and is second in the general classification behind the Tuscan rider.

"After the negative day on Friday, where I suffered a bit in Tagliacozzo, yesterday I felt better and I'm happy with the result," Fortunato explained. "I had good climbing legs during the race, and our plan was to get in the breakaway to score mountain points for me, and we would help Diego win the stage. Once I scored the points, I completely put myself at Diego's service. He didn't win the stage, but he won the pink jersey, so I'm really happy."

For Ulissi, the pink jersey conquered yesterday is the right reward for his many sacrifices, and now he aims to keep the jersey as long as possible. For XDS Astana, yesterday was an almost perfect day because their intention was to win the stage and climb in the general classification.

"As I said, I suffered on Friday, I really wanted to do well in Tagliacozzo, but today I showed I'm in form. At the finale, Diego told me: Fortu, I think I'll take the pink jersey. It was a surprise because they hadn't told us anything through the earpiece. And then he took it." Communications with the team car in the final kilometers were difficult, and both Ulissi and Fortunato had understood something from the fans cheering for them along the road. "I didn't really expect him to take the jersey, because we had started with the intention of winning the stage, but I'm extremely happy. Today we arrive in Tuscany, his region, so it has a double value for Diego, and a double value for the team, which has been racing strongly since the beginning of the season. The day was a great reward for everyone."