The German hopeful Emanuel Buchmann has switched to attack mode on the dusty gravel roads of Tuscany, but for child prodigy Remco Evenepoel the dream of a coup at the Giro d'Italia has probably burst. Buchmann blew up the top group with a courageous attack on the tricky eleventh stage on Wednesday from Perugia to Montalcino, from which only the Colombian top favorite and overall first Egan Bernal could follow. Buchmann made a big leap in the overall ranking to sixth place. Swiss professional cyclist Mauro Schmid secured the day's victory ahead of Italian rival Alessandro Covi.
Evenepoel - celebrated as the new Eddy Merckx in his Belgian homeland - was the big loser.
After 162 kilometers, including 35 over the gravel passages from the one-day race Strade Bianche, the 21-year-old lost over two minutes to Bernal and slipped to seventh place.
Buchmann, on the other hand, drove a strong race and was always on par with Bernal, who, after his Tour de France victory in 2019, is heading towards the next victory in a great tour.
Bernal is now 45 seconds ahead of Russian Alexander Vlasow in the overall standings.
Buchmann is 1:50 minutes behind and is getting closer and closer to the targeted podium.
Track bike specialist Roger Kluge also belonged to the larger breakaway group for a long time.
In the final phase, however, the Giro stage winner from 2016 had to tear down.
In the end he finished seventh.
The breakaway group had pulled away from the field shortly after the start in Perugia and had meanwhile gained a lead of almost 15 minutes.
But there was no danger for Bernal's pink jersey.
The twelfth stage follows on Thursday over 212 kilometers from Siena to Bagno di Romagna.
Two mountains each in the second and third category shouldn't pose any major problems for the top favorites for overall victory, but the sprinters should hardly keep up.