A second week marked by chaos, surprisingly closed with Bruno Armirail in the pink jersey.
In the days of the dramatic images arriving from Emilia Romagna and Central Italy plagued by the rain, of the displaced, of the counting of the victims, bad weather and cold they could only be the undisputed protagonists of this second week of the Giro. If we think that Evenepoel won the Cesena time trial only a week ago and a few days later the same city was submerged in water, talking about a race and gaps seems to belong to another dimension.
The Giro restarts, therefore, after the shock of the withdrawal of Remco Evenepoel due to Covid and again in the rain, con Geraint Thomas in the pink jersey and just two seconds ahead of Primoz Roglic. The Welsh rider, very active on Twitter, clearly summarized the “conquest” of the leader’s jersey with a photo of the Squad and as a caption “Shame we won’t see this much todaytoo bad we won’t see much of her today.” In the following days, Thomas never took off the black rain jacket supplied to Ineos.
And Tuesday’s stage was perhaps among the toughest of this second week precisely because of the rain that made the treacherous descent from the Radici Apennine pass even more complicated than expected and tested the endurance of the riders. After a very long breakaway that began 150 kilometers from the finish and which resisted the return of the peloton, the Danish Magnus Cort Nielsen (EF) won on the finish line in Viareggio – very recognizable with his blond mustache – beating Derek Gee in the sprint, a surprise of this Giro, and the stainless Alessandro DeMarchi who didn’t hide his disappointment after crossing the finish line: at thirty-six, being on the run all day and not bringing home the win is frustrating, even more so when it’s the second time in a few days. To the microphones of “Eurosport” she struggled to conceal her bitterness at the result: “It’s starting to be a bit frustrating. But tomorrow morning I’ll be back there ready to try again. I would have liked to try a little less and get it right the first time, but the story seems like this”. For Magnus Cort Nielsen it is a small consecration because with this victory he managed to win at least one stage in all three grand tours (six in the Vuelta and two in the Tour).
The undisputed star of this week was also Germany which took home three stage victories, two of which in a row (a fact that had never happened before) and with two different cyclists. The first to inscribe his name in the register of winners is Pascal Ackermann, at his third victory in the pink race, in the test from Camaiore to Tortona. The German, originally from Kandel in south-western Germany, triumphed on a day marked again – look at it – by the rain and above all by yet another twist: along the descent from Colle di Boasi about 70 kilometers from the finish, Alessandro Covi (UAE), loses control of the bicycle and slips to the ground and like a bowling ball he knocks down Primoz Roglic behind him and half of the Ineos who followed closely behind. The worst was Tao Geoghegan Hart, third in the general standings, who remained on the ground and was taken away from the ambulance with a fractured hip and femur. Thomas also crashed but was able to restart while Covi also gave up the race in the evening due to a fractured pelvis. Ackermann beat Cavendish and Pedersen in the sprint and above all a monstrous Jonathan Milan protagonist of a screaming comeback sprint. At 400 meters from the white line, Milan was far behind the German who had already launched, but after getting up on the pedals he unleashed all his strength on the bicycle, one by one he caught up with the riders who were in front of him, with a slight and reckless zigzag , and finished in second position just a trifle behind the winner, so much so that although Ackermann had straightened up on the saddle to exult, Milan made a gesture with his left hand to say to wait and exult. Then the photo finish proved Ackermann right, but Milan’s technical gesture did not go unnoticed.
However, the German protagonist of the week was another and wears the black-green Bora Hansgrohe jersey: Nico Denz, born in 1994, with Italian blood since his maternal grandfather is from Marsicovetere, won the twelfth and fourteenth stages, respectively 185 from Bra to Rivoli and 193 kilometers from Sierre (CH) to Cassano Magnago, with the 2004 m of the Sempione Pass to climb. In particular, the second was a very strange day, with the “big names” standing still and letting go of the breakaway which crossed the finish line with the astronomical advantage of 21 minutes and 10 seconds: result Geraint Thomas lost the pink jersey in favor of Bruno Armirail, French of the Groupama FDJ, who as the best result of his career has two fifth places in the Vuelta in 2019 and 2020 and the national time trial title. Bruno now leads the general classification – he is the first Frenchman in the pink jersey of the 21st century – with a 1’41” advantage over Thomas. It is a puppet advantage: already in Sunday’s stage 20 he lost 30 seconds, he clearly lacks the ambition finish, but the joy in the eyes of a rider destined for the rear of history for this clamorous result is incomparable. In the post-race interview he commented simply: “I went on a breakaway to try to win the stage, but it wasn’t really a great day for me. I didn’t expect the advantage over the group to increase so much and as the kilometers went by I began to think about it. Only 5km from the finish, however, did I realize that it could be done. It really is a dream”.
However, stage number 13, on Friday 19 May, held the stage in these days, which was also among the most eagerly awaited: 199 kilometers from Borgofranco d’Ivrea to Crans Montana with the ascent to the Gran San Bernardo Pass, Cima Coppi della race, located at 2473 meters above sea level. Since Evenepoel’s withdrawal wasn’t enough, another surprise news arrived on Monday: the decision of the race director to cut the Pass and have the caravan pass through the tunnel, much lower, at just over 1800. Ugly hit, but digestible in a week. Instead Friday morning another bombshell: the stage is completely redesigned and mutilated of the whole Italian area. It starts directly from Switzerland for a “stage” of 75 kilometers with the sole ascent of the Croix de Coeur at 2147 meters and the arrival in Crans Montana. From there the chaos: who decided? The direction? The runners? The direction at the request of the runners? Apparently they didn’t want to make the Croix de Coeur descent, due to difficult weather conditions – and which in fact had been the same for ten days – but then images of the Aosta Valley began to shoot, where the sun actually shines. So why cut? Where is the truth? In total confusion, every one is read, including alleged statements by ex-racers who they accuse athletes to be weaklings because they ran in the snow in their day.
Since the truth, as always, is difficult to find, in the end it was the Colombian Einer Rubio Reyer (Movistar) who got everyone to agree on his second success of the season after his victory at the Uae Tour at the beginning of the year. In between, to make two-wheel lovers happy, Thibaut Pinot who makes good and bad weather: attacks, breaks away, touches the virtual pink jersey, quarrels with Jefferson Cepeda, wastes energy and in the end finishes second exhausted. But we love him for that.
Too bad about the crippling of the stage, but as Giovanni Battistuzzi said in Turn of the wheel: “What is certain is that the whole affair could have been managed better to avoid the Giro from being cut off in one of its best days, to avoid the riders looking like cowards. I’m not.”
The week closes in strong colors with stars and stripes with Brandon Mcnulty (UAE) who wins in Bergamo by regulating that nut of Ben Healey in the sprint. A very good young man Marco Frigo, professional since this year and in the first Giro of his career, who doesn’t give up on the tough slopes of Bergamo Alta and almost wins the stage with a moving comeback on the open Colle. We hope to hear more about it. Today rest day, Tuesday he leaves Sabbio Chiese for the decisive week of the race with the hope that the weather will be clement.