“Let’s wait for maximum productivity and prepare for the worst. “Tao Geoghegan Hart talking about the weather situations of the last week of the Giro d’Italia, but the pilot of Ineos Grenadiers would have made a similar reference to everything else, since the hardest component is yet to arrive in the tumultuous maximum race of an already hectic one. Season.
The reputation of the third week of the Giro precedes it, and has in fact been amplified through the two recent overdue reversals, namely the return of Vincenzo Nibali in 2016 and Chris Froome’s Miracle Finestre two years later. Journalist Cristiano Gatti said in Tuttobici (albeit in an article downplaying the option of some other Nibali fight), “It’s not just any week left: it’s the capital week, the scored 3rd week, the mom of every week. “
The Giro resumes on Tuesday with a final mountain circuit around the prosciutto capital of San Daniele del Friuli, which may cause some GC contenders to take action. This antipasto is followed by a smart dose of level 17 passes, with Forcella Valbona, Monte Bondone and Passo Durone preceding an end at the top at Madonna di Campiglio.
A day later comes the sound of this Giro that, weather permitting, will see the organization face the 2758-meter-high Stelvio towards the summit in Laghi di Cancano. A long flat run to Asti will allow fast men to uncork one last race before the hard mountain level on the penultimate day , with Agnello, Izoard and Montgenévre before the ascent to Sestriere. The Giro ends on Sunday with a 15 km time trial in Milan’s Piazza Duomo.
In front of these six decisive stages, we encounter some of the problems that will mark the last week of the Giro.
Wilco Kelderman begins last week as leader of the chosen Giro, after trimming Joo Almeida’s advantage (Deceuninck-QuickStep) to just 15 seconds thanks to a remarkable show of strength from his Sunweb team at Piancavallo on Sunday, while established contenders such as Vincenzo Nibali (Trek-Segafredo), Rafal Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Jakob Fuglsang (Astana Pro Team) are more than 3 minutes behind.
The Dutchman came to this Giro as a podium contender, but his prestige has gradually increased since then, and is now the notable favorite. Kelderman is already the most powerful of the general’s contenders in Etna and Roccaraso, but in Piancavallo he proved that there was the most powerful team to begin with.
Evidence at this level suggests that he deserves to get rid of Rose’s Almeida before the weekend and seal victory at the last time trial, but the Giro’s logic can be difficult to understand.
Four years ago, for example, Steven Kruijswijk was in an even more dominant position at this stage, but his career took a position in a crash on Agnello’s descent two days from the finish line. If Kelderman can avoid the turn of fate or the dreaded day without, win this Spin.
The men who are chasing him, on the other hand, may have hoped that he has not won any races of any kind for more than five years. Tension will increase as you approach the price, Kelderman actually has enough delight to cope.
This Giro d’Italia was the ultimate in announcing the arrival of a new force in 3 weeks of race, and so it turned out, albeit in unforeseen cases, given the absence of Remco Evenepoel due to injury. two notable weeks in pink maglia, calmly dealing with all the conditions that presented themselves. Paradoxically, perhaps his greatest impressive demonstration of this Giro to date was a defeat at Piancavallo, where he fought hard to maintain his overall lead after being deserted by Kelderman. et to 6 km by the end.
On Monday, Almeida downplayed her chances of maintaining her narrow 15-second lead over Milan, and was a little more optimistic about her chances of retaining a podium position, but on the condition that she could run aground before facing the first time the nearly mythical 3rd week.
Kelderman’s team-mate at Sunweb, Jai Hindley (third at 2:56), is also in uncharted territory in the most sensitive general classification, has already run two Grand Laps and done pretty well with last week’s demands on each and every opportunity. .
Geoghegan Hart, fourth, is a little older and delights more with him, but leading a team on a Grand Tour is also a novelty for him. However, Astana’s sporting director, Giuseppe Martinelli, warned that the Briton could become Kelderman’s main rival in the Alps.
“He has a team that doesn’t lose his rhythm, everyone feels more guilty after Thomas’s retirement and he can also paint his rivals,” Martinelli said.
It is possible that none of them would have expected a Giro like this when they arrived in Sicily, but Almeida, Hindley and Geoghegan Hart can play decisive roles last week.
When Alex Ferguson was on the pace of Manchester United, he used to call the final weeks of the Premier League season ”the time of the squeaky buttocks”, a reference to how nervous enthusiasts (and coaches) twisted in their plastic stadium seats while the tension Much of Ferguson’s United mystique has been built around his ability to cope with the tension of the race , to survive its conflicting parties, either mentally and physically.
Nibali’s hopes for this Giro are based on qualities of staying power, although, as Gatti points out in this Tuttobici article, “some miracles have not happened since 2016. “Despite this, Nibali’s ability to perform in the third week has remained intact for the afterlife. He hit the post once things got harder in the 2017 Giro and spoke of a remarkable solo win at the end of a complicated Tour de France last year.
Nibali is recently seventh at 3:29, and according to Sunday’s evidence, he is unlikely to leave this complicated situation, given the rarity of his Trek-Segafredo team. On the other hand, it is only a part a minute away from a podium and hopes that the “week of the capital” will soon wreak havoc on Almeida. Retrieving Kelderman’s box is a more complicated question, but you may only find case allies in runners like Fuglsang (12 at 5:07).
Or, as Geoghegan Hart said on Sunday: “I’d hope some of the big names don’t come here to take 11th or 12th overall, so maybe you’ll see something spectacular at the Froomey. “
The mountain ports of 2000 my more have already been highly unlikely in a turn of early summer, and the focus will be on the viability of the Stelvio and Agnello in this new October edition of the pink corsa.
From the moment the new dates were confirmed, the race director, Mauro Vegni, insisted that those mountain ports are less threatened in the autumn than at the beginning of summer because there is no winter snow in the look of the road. not so acute in October, there was a threat that the roads would be impassable due to the first snowfall this year.
Recent maximum reports recommend that Stelvio is satisfactory and that Thursday’s forecast is cool, a maximum of 6 degrees Celsius at the maximum sensitive, but fortunately, no additional rain and snow were expected before the weekend. Tappon can continue without fighting, but if temperatures drop or the sky opens, then the protocol of excessive weather situations can be invoked and the race can be unseated, perhaps the Mortirolo.
Weather situations for the Agnello next weekend seem less promising in this first stage. While Vegni, as always, has a choice of direction as an eventuality, he liked not to talk about such plans in an interview with RAI on Sunday afternoon.
The factor ruled the time of the week after Mitchelton-Scott and Jumbo-Visma withdrew from the race that followed COVID-19 cases and fury at its peak when EF Pro Cycling advised an early end to the Giro, raising considerations about the event’s coronavirus. . ‘ bubble’. This application was temporarily rejected through the ICU and nerves decreased, and no other positive cases were reported after additional coronavirus tests at the end of the week.
Ambient music, of course, can radically replace if PCR tests performed on all runners and at the time of the rest day (effects can be announced on Monday night) show more positive cases.
Beyond the Giro, Italy recorded the largest number of instances shown of COVID-19 to date on Sunday night (11,705), which led the government to implement new restrictions on Sunday night. However, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte opposes the national closure. and although the amateur game has stopped, no additional restrictions have been imposed on the elite game, adding professional football and the Giro.
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