Nicola Venchiarutti, 22 years old from Osoppo, runs in the Androni Sidermec
The two former Team Friuli are doing well but the group with the big names doesn’t let it go
Alpe di Mera. Ready to go, there is the race to go on the break and free themselves from the grip of the top teams who want to keep stitched so that their leaders go and play for each other stage and perhaps the Giro in the final, yet, after about forty km, the breakaway goes.
With a lot of Friuli inside. Six riders escape: Lawrence Warbasse (Ag2r), Mark Christian (Eolo), Quinten Hermans and Andrea Pasqualon (Intermarché) and above all the former captain of Team Friuli, Giovanni Aleotti (Bora), 22, from Emilia and great hope of cycling Italian and Nicola Venchiarutti, the 22-year-old from Ospppo of Androni Sidermec, also up to two years ago at the Professional Friulian.
The half dozen is strong, four minutes ahead of the first ascent of the day, the Gignese pass that replaced Mottarone, but then things change behind them. Because, in the midst of breathtaking landscapes, the Deceunink begins to push through and wants to break the bank for Joao Almeida’s impossible comeback. And so, in the 7.5 km of the ascent of Passo della Colma the advantage of the fugitives decreases again. Halfway up the climb Venchiarutti, rookie in the Giro, gives in and is reabsorbed by the pink jersey group 40 km from the end. Bravo all the same, the milestone in Milan, already a success at the debut, is now one step away.
Even though he is cautious at the finish line: “I gave it my all, I tried. Milan? There is a tough stage, but I want to get there in Milan ”. He finished the stage exhausted 29’16 ”behind the winner Simon Yates, 142nd and third from last. In the standings he is 132nd at almost 4 and a half hours from Bernal. Behind him only 12 athletes, but that’s okay for the fast walker.
Venchiarutti and Aleotti with the other 4 escape companions
Aleotti, who we will see in a few years fighting for the positions that matter, and the others resist up to 8 km from the finish, when the climb of the Alpe di Mera has already begun for a good two kilometers.
Enough to make the eyes of the owner of Team Friuli, Roberto Bressan, sparkle. “Good guys, Matteo Fabbro is also doing well, Alessandro De Marchi we know what he has done: in short, a nice Giro from our former riders that gives us a great boost to do even better and find other talents”.
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