Georg Steinhauser powers to first pro win at Giro

Now, two days later, Georg was back in the break, and this time he put on a career-defining ride, soloing to his first pro win on the Passo Brocon.

“It’s something unbelievable,” Georg said after the finish. “Already on stage 8, I noticed that I had good legs. I thought maybe I had the legs to win a stage. The queen stage was an unbelievable day. I could have already been happy just with the queen stage of this Giro. And today, already when I rode to the sign-on, I thought to myself, ‘I have good legs, maybe I will win today.’ I went from the beginning in the break. It was a little strange because we got caught by the peloton again. But at one moment, I decided I have to try again, and it worked out.”

After freezing cold temperatures and pouring rain yesterday, the peloton was in for another big day with five classified climbs on the menu and more rain on the radar. Our young German rider was one of the first to go on the attack on the opening climb of the day and was able to make it into a very selective breakaway after the Passo Sella. The group worked well together but was reeled back in by a charging group of GC favorites with 60 kilometers to go.

After hanging on to the group for a few kilometers, a brief slowdown in the pace on the Passo Gobbera allowed for attacks to fly out of the group. Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Lidl-Trek) was the first to go with Georg hot on his tail. The two of them worked well together, extending their gap over the peloton slowly.

It was on the penultimate climb that Georg made his move. The young German attacked with three kilometers to go on the Passo Brocon and never looked back. He quickly extended his gap over Ghebreigzabhier and the peloton and went flying down the descent, hitting the base of the final climb with just over three minutes over the general classification group behind.

“I was super nervous on the last climb,” Georg said. “I knew I had to push all the way to the finish. I heard at one point that he was attacking, but I was already 2 km to go, so I thought, ‘I will make it.’”

Georg had time to savor his win. With a big smile on his face, the 22-year-old zipped up his jersey and soaked it all in.

After numerous attempts, not only from Georg but by the whole team, this win was a long time coming and a reward for all the work that the squad has put in over the last two weeks.

“It’s very emotional and obviously a very important victory,” said sport director, Matti Breschel. “This is what we were aiming for. It’s stage 17, and we’ve been so close and built up a lot of emotions. So when it happens like this, with Georg being in the break the whole day, getting caught, going again, and still managing to pull it off, it’s really impressive and so well deserved. I’m really happy and proud of Georg.”

Matti knows that this is a testament to all the work that our young rider has put in over the last few seasons.

“It’s for sure not the last time we see Georg,” Matti said. “It’s proof he has the talent, and it’s super important for his development.”

You can bet that this team will keep trying all the way to Rome, but for now, enjoy today, Georg. You deserve it.