Giro d’Italia, flagships in the Northeast: poker played for the squad led by Veneto or Friuli ds

SALO’. Richard Carapaz in pink, Jai Hindley at 7 seconds, Joao Almeida at 30, Mikel Landa at 59. The Giro in a poker of one minute with six stages from the end with the Italians who dream of a turnaround with Vincenzo Nibali3 minutes and, why not, Domenico Pozzovivo to “only” a minute and a second from the Ecuadorian master.

A poker of big and flagship to guide them a poker of Italian sports directors. No, there is more, in a Giro that from Wednesday 25 May will point straight to the North-East here is a small record, not inexplicable and then we will tell you why: the four sporting directors of the top four in the ranking are from Veneto or Friuli.

Former teammates when they ran, often friends with each other, perhaps allies since the stage of Tuesday 24th.

And the story is intriguing. So perhaps an Italian will not win the Giro, even if the people on the streets have already made it clear who they would dream of seeing in pink (any reference to a Shark is purely coincidental, moreover driven by two blues like the dean Giuseppe Martinelli e Stefano Zanini), but an Italian technician will bring a rider in the pink to Verona.

Here they are the technicians, in order of classification. In fact, it is up to a Franco Pellizotti44 years old from Friuli-Veneto (originally from Carnia now living in Veneto by marriage) to chase with Mikel Landa. The Basque is fine, he also reiterated it yesterday in the days off in Salò. Twenty-nine seconds before there is Almeida led in the flagship by Fabio Baldato from Vicenza at UAE. The 53-year-old was a great runner and is now an experienced director.

The rookie, a Friulian from Casarsa della Delizia and now Sizzero for love is Enrico Gasparotto, 40: he will orchestrate Hindley with a super Bora. The pink jersey Carapaz is then driven in the flagship by Matteo Tosatto48, from Castelfranco Veneto former luxury gregarione, at Ineos he won “only” the last two laps with Tao Geoghegan Hart ed Egan Bernal.

Who will win. Word to the Italian bike team manager, Roberto Amadio. The former great boss of the glorious Liquigas is perfect for our story. Super partes: he was born in Portogruaro, in Veneto, and lives in Sesto al Reghena in Friuli Venezia Giulia.

“Those four colleagues – he explains – are an example that Veneto and Friuli are lands of cycling, of great tradition”, he explains. Who will win? «There is a lot of balance, I don’t think alliances between them will be decisive, the legs of the riders will count, it is certain that understanding each other in dialect will help. And not a little ».

The Aprica stage is held on Tuesday with that Santa Cristina where Ivan Basso actually took his Giro d’Italia in 2010. «And Vincenzo Nibali that day was decisive in overturning the race – he closes -. It is three minutes, it is true, but I saw him carefree and on Saturday in the stage of the Marmolada the Giro can be overturned even in three minutes ». Has the Brescia-born Martinelli in the flagship? He’s good too. God forbid.