Featured image courtesy of NBC Sports
The next mini review of the Giro d’Italia. From stage 4 to 6, here are some talking points that are creating discussion for cycling fans.
Redemption for Bahrain Victorious, mix of emotions for UAE-Team Emirates
On Stage 4 we saw Mikel Landa go on the front foot, getting out the saddle to try and get some time back after the TT, a great moment to see the Basque climber giving it a go. But stage racing can be one good day, a terrible one the next. An awful crash towards Cattolica sadly saw his Giro d’Italia ambitions shredded. Bahrain-Victorious left without their leader. All the talk was about Landa finally delivering a Grand Tour podium for the first time since the 2015 Giro, the man himself getting an outright leadership role for the first time in a while.
The team are now a rider light but must not despair as Italian climber Damiano Caruso can certainly aim for a top ten in the general classification and in Landa’s fellow Spaniard Pello Bilbao, he now has an added chance to go for a stage win and target the GC, Bilbao himself finishing fifth overall last year.
But the main headlines should also go to Gino Mäder (below), the 24-year-old Swiss climber who was denied a stage win at Paris-Nice back in March, but not in Italy – at the top of San Giacomo above Ascoli Piceno. A glorious victory for the team one day after losing Landa is the perfect way to redeem yourself. Hats off to Matej Mohorič, who did everything to help deliver his team-mate to the line and even had some energy to help Caruso and Bilbao in the group of favourites.
Mikel Landa wasn’t the only one who cycling fans have felt gutted for, spare a thought for UAE-Team Emirates rider Joe Dombrowski. The American took his first career stage win at a Grand Tour on Stage 4, only to crash out of the Giro one day after. Dombrowski hit a marshal wit its aftermath bringing down Landa in the process. Concussion was Joe Dombrowski’s medical update after Stage 5, with concern for how he feels it was duly taken seriously. Head injuries are thankfully being recognised in bike racing with Dombrowski the latest victim. To have all the joy of a stage win and then out of the race, gutted for him is an understatement!
Bernal and Evenepoel the top GC stars …so far
What can we analyse from the first six stages, including the first uphill finish on Stage 6? For INEOS Grenadiers it couldn’t have started better with Filippo Ganna winning the Turin time trial and as form suggests, Egan Bernal is looking magnificent. It seems that all the worry about his back injury is behind him, the Colombian riding very well when the going gets tough.
Since the time trial, Bernal’s team-mates have stopped at nothing more than to deliver their leader to the line in the hope of gaining anything on the GC rivals. Riding full-on across windy, rainy and desolate Apennine terrain on Stage 6 was a prime example. They decided to take it up with around 60 km to go, which distanced De Marchi in pink, and then on the final climb the pace was torture for some including Jumbo-Visma’s George Bennett.
The back injury will always be the niggling worry for Egan Bernal, but right now the 2019 Tour de France champion looks to be on some form. The same can be said for Remco Evenepoel. Despite hardly any racing in the legs the young Belgian is looking like a serious contender to take the pink jersey at the Giro. It is quite incredible and after last year’s hero in pink João Almeida lost time on Stage 4 to Sestola, Deceuninck-Quick Step now have a clear direction to give as much as possible to help Evenepoel deliver a possible Grand Tour.
Elsewhere, good rides from Hugh Carthy, Aleksandr Vlasov and Dan Martin have been noticeable. Former wearer of the pink jersey with big ambitions to do the same and win the Giro, Simon Yates has so far looked slightly behind the main favourites. But as Yates knows all too well, while Bernal and Evenepoel are excelling in week one, that doesn’t mean you will do the same in week three, where the high mountains really dominate. Last year’s second place rider Jai Hindley has also lost time and at Trek-Segafredo it looks clear that former King of the Mountains winner Giulio Ciccone is their destined rider to provide for, Vincenzo Nibali has kept in touch but is one minute 43 seconds behind the race leader
One loss for Egan Bernal is Pavel Sivakov, the Russian crashing on the same stage as Mikel Landa and unfortunately breaking his collarbone. After crashing on the opening stage of last year’s Tour, it is just incredibly unlucky for Sivakov, a key man for Egan Bernal and a card lost for INEOS Grenadiers to play.
Ewan on track to achieve his 2021 objective
Stage 5 was the second of five flat stages at this Giro, which all should fall to the sprinters. A pan flat route to Cattolica might be boring to fans but for the sprinters it is an ideal parcours, particularly for Caleb Ewan. On the day we already had Tim Merlier as the first sprint victor on Stage 2 but of course it would have been a huge surprise if he could do it a second. For Ewan, it is another stage win at a Grand Tour, his fourth at the Giro d’Italia. More importantly for the Australian it is a tick on the 2021 checklist – aiming to win a sprint stage at each of the three Grand Tours. One down two to go!
Elsewhere, what more does Giacomo Nizzolo have to do to win a stage! Second once again in a bunch sprint, it is now becoming an unwanted statistic, the same as Peter Sagan suffered at the 2015 Tour – constantly finishing second on the stage. There are no questions around the Team Qhubeka-ASSOS leadout but it is now about Nizzolo delivering a victory. Beating Ewan in a sprint of course makes it harder, but so far the Italian has been the one man consistently near the front.
Elia Viviani was once again up there but left frustrated, Caleb Ewan (below) will be happy that Lotto Soudal got the lead-out right compared to Stage 2, and as for Fernando Gaviria, UAE-Team Emirates once again got the lead-out all wrong, the Colombian finishing fifth. Sagan was also in the mix again, the former world champion still looks on form as a man who can sprint and climb short sharp uphill finishes. Stage 7 in Termoli with a small incline in the finale might just suit Sagan perfectly.
New faces wearing pink
It might have been just for two days but credit must go to Alessandro De Marchi for wearing the maglia rosa. After all the years of sacrificing himself for the benefit of others, the Italian got his just reward. A pink jersey for the first time in his career and a first major moment as a team for Israel Start-Up Nation. Why did he lose it on Stage 6? A summit finish at Ascoli Piceno (San Giacomo) was always going to be a hard ascent for De Marchi (below) to keep hold of pink, but he’ll be disappointed that he didn’t make the cut to at least try. No experience of racing in a leader’s jersey might just have been the difference for him. Nevertheless, a proud moment for the Italian.
But the new leader in pink is 22-year-old Attilia Valter riding for Groupama-FDJ. Another young gun going very well at a Grand Tour, it is the new normal in world cycling. Valter becomes the first Hungarian to lead a Grand Tour and just like João Almeida last year, could we be seeing a new hero riding out of his skin in the pink jersey? It remains to be seen but however long Attilia Valter lasts, it is a fantastic achievement for the young man.
