Alexandre Géniez has again met the expectations on the special stage with the Mortorolo - a stage that was the scene of a furious battle between Aru and Contador.
Eleventh in Aprica, the leader of the FDJ team moved up one spot in the overall standings and is now in ninth place.
Having constantly delivered good performance since leaving San Remo, Geniez no longer surprises people and he has now firmly established himself as one of the top riders in the peloton.
At the summit of the Mortiroloe, Alberto Contador led the race with Steven Kruijswijk and Mikel Landa and had an advantage of 1'49 ''over Aru with Trofimov (Katusha), Hesjedal (Garmin-Cannondale) and Amador (Movistar) in between.
Perfectly managing his effort, confirming its tremendous composure and often distancing König (Team Sky), Caruso (BMC) and Betancur (Ag2R-La Mondiale), Alexandre Géniez was right behind, about twenty seconds behind Aru. The battle continued to rage on the descent and on the final climb to Aprica, he never caught the riders in front of him but limited his losses perfectly.
Eleventh at 3'19 '' from stage winner Mikel Landa, he won a place in the overall standings where he is now behind Kruijswijk and one second ahead of Hesjedal.
"We get through every day with a big smile," said sports director Martial Gayant. "This very difficult stage went perfectly. We were afraid when Cédric Pineau crashed on the descent of the Mortirolo, and we were worried about Murilo Fischer's problems but all the boys finished within the time limit."
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