Movistar Team are now under a minute behind the leaders in the teams' overall classification of the 94th Giro d'Italia after a crazy stage, the 14th in the Italian grandtour, ridden over only 172 kilometers from Lienz to the Monte Zoncolan, a route change in the middle of the race skipping the Tualis climb, which was replacing the Monte Crostis, ruled out by the jury on Friday evening.
Under an intense hailstorm in the final kilometers, the riders from the telephone squad reached the finish one by one after a final climb with big time gaps, where Antón (EUS) overcame the main favourites to take the victory. The Blue squad’s leader David Arroyo did not go through his best day in terms of form and dropped with six kilometers remaining from the GC group. however, despite losing more than three minutes on the winner, the Spaniard is still on the fight for the general classification as he sits in 10th place, while Vasil Kiryienka and Sergio Pardilla concluded into the best 30 of the day and completed a fine performance from the. Sunday will see the riders going for the Queen stage after yet another long transfer to Conegliano: 229km trek atop the Rifugio Gardeccia (Cat. 1) with the climbs of Piancavallo (Cat. 1), Forcella Cibiana (Cat. 2), Giau (Cima Coppi) and Marmolada (Cat. 1).
David Arroyo: “This is the third time I climb the Zoncolan and, to tell the truth, it always suffocates me. This is not a good marriage between us two. It might be that it’s a climb for more explosive riders due to its steep ramps, because I don’t get to oxygenate my legs and have to start the climb slower and do it on my own pace. When Purito attacked, things went violent for me and I saw it wasn’t my best day. This is a climb where you can’t get obsessed. Still the team is doing superb and we’re not going to lose moral after this. You can turn things back from one day to the other and we saw that today. Tomorrow will be another big test and we have to keep fighting and look ahead, because there’s a long way coming up yet.“
Rui Costa centimeters short for win in Lorraine
Big joy for Movistar Team was about to arrive in the Circuit de Lorraine being held this week on French soil. The fourth stage saw Rui Costa having only ten meters too much to imposing himself, the Movistar Team rider trying a finisheur action with three kilometers from the finish and staying clear of a bunch unable to chase him down in a complicated finale. Only Frenchman Anthony Roux (FDJ) could beat him in the final rush, by half a wheel. Thanks to the bonus seconds, the Portuguese rider is now 5th in the overall rank still led by De Gendt (VCD), as youngsters Ángel Madrazo and Andrey Amador keep shining after their recovery of collarbone fractures. Tomorrow, Movistar Team will search for the victory they’ve been neglected on French turf, the chance by Enrique Sanz high in the presumable mass sprint in Hayange.