Chris Harper has given Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling newfound hope in the general classification after he fought his way into a decisive breakaway that landed him in fourth place on a gruelling stage 11 at the Giro d'Italia.
With that move he gained 3:24 back on the race favourites, and added to the already strong contingent from Australia in the top 10 of the General Classification (GC), with Ben O'Connor (Jayco-AlUla) in fifth, Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) sixth, Michael Storer (Tudor) seventh and Harper now tenth.
Harper was part of a larger breakaway that split apart over the steep and technical terrain into Chiavari, and while he couldn't hold onto eventual winner Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and runner-up Enric Mas (Movistar), he did manage to finish just behind third-placed Diego Ulissi (XDS Astana) in fourth.
The breakaway had gained nearly three and a half minutes on the reduced field that included all the overall classification favourites, meaning Harper moved up seven places into 10th on the GC standings, now at 4:09 behind the maglia rosa Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain-Victorious).
"For me, it was super tough. It felt like I was riding another TT. It wasn't easy to get up the road. Even when we had a good group, we didn't have much of a time gap for a while. We kept hearing people jumping, and it was not flat all day. We kept going full gas," Harper told CyclingProNet.
"Mas went the first time [on the climbs], and I didn't have the legs to go, and I sort of caught him back. Every time it flatted off, they backed off, and I got back to their wheel but I was super gassed, and every time it kicked up, they went again, and I just didn't have the legs for it.
"I thought the gap was a little too big, and if anyone was going to go, it would be Ulissi because he has a good kick, so I decided to sit on the back of him and hope he went. From there, it was about the best sprint I could do; it wasn't much, but I rolled in for fourth."
Harper said he wasn't surprised the favourites let the breakaway gain so much time on the field, likely due to the mountain stages to come, including on stage 14 atop the climb in Pila, at 1,793 metres, plus the back-to-back grand finale on stage 19 at Alleghe (Piani di Pezzè) and stage 20 at Piancavallo.
"The GC favourites aren't too worried about me. With all the big mountain days to come, obviously, that's where the big time gaps can be made," Harper said.
"For me, it's great to take back three minutes. Now it will be about recovering before the first big test on Saturday. I'll try and recover as much as possible and then see how I can go in the mountains."
Harper's last victory was a year ago in Italy, a decisive climbing demonstration at Sestriere on stage 20, which was also his first-ever Grand Tour stage victory.
The team's DS, Gabriele Missaglia, said Harper's top 10 on GC is perfect for Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling, and he believes that Harper will only get stronger as they reach the mountain stages.
"I think the big mountains will be better for Chris. Today was not the perfect course for him," he told Cyclingnews. "But if he can do what he did on today's parcours, I believe that he can do even better when we arrive in the big mountains. Now, we have started the good weather, it's warmer, and that is better for us."
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