Jan Hirt recorded his best Giro d’Italia result since 2024 as he finished ninth after a day-long breakaway on the roads to Pila on Saturday.
Hirt moved up one place on GC to 16th after his aggressive ride in one of the toughest Giro stages in years, which featured nearly 4,200 meters of climbing in just 133km of racing, with relentless ascents from the early kilometres before the final climb to Pila.
The Czech rider, one of the last survivors from the 23-man breakaway, battled over a series of demanding climbs before being caught by the GC favourites with 7km to go on the final ascent, but he will take confidence from his performance as the final rest day approaches.
Jan Hirt said: “It was a short but intense stage. When I saw a big group going in the breakaway, I decided to go with it. We never had a big gap on the peloton, but we tried our best.”
“I’m quite satisfied. It’s a pity we couldn’t fight for the stage win, but I’m happy with my performance today.”
