Giro d'Italia (st. 21)
Movistar Team closed a brilliant 2012 Giro d'Italia in Milan, the Blues shining from start to finish with two stage wins and constant presence into the breaks, just one step behind the teams' overall victory
The final triumph by Canadian Ryder Hesjedal (GRM) –escorted in the overall podium by Joaquim Rodríguez (KAT) and Thomas De Gendt (VCD)- closed the 95th edition of the Giro d’Italia, with an individual time trial in Milano conquered by Marco Pinotti (BMC). Three weeks of racing saw Movistar Team fully accomplishing all their objectives, with two stage triumphs -Fran Ventoso, on stage 9 in Frosisnone, and Andrey Amador atop Cervinia on day 14-, a second spot (Intxausti, stage 8), two third places (Visconti, on day 10, and Amador, stage 12) and constant presence into the most important moves of this year’s Corsa Rosa.
Only the sweet-sour taste from the last two Dolomitic stages, where Intxausti and Pardilla lost their top 10 overall chances and, overall, after the team could not keep the desired lead in the squads’ leaderboard following eight days on top, bring some bright out of a notable Giro by Movistar Team, whose jersey keeps a triumphant march in the four GT’s ridden to date (two stage triumphs in the ’11 Giro; one in the ’11 Tour; another one in the ’11 Vuelta; and the two ones from Ventoso and Amador in the 2012 Giro.)
OVERVIEW FROM EUSEBIO UNZUÉ: “The race outcome is very satisfactory for us. We came here with the aim of claiming a stage win and we got two, but above all, I’m happy with the overall attitude by all Giro riders. We were into the spotlight for all three weeks and came really close to the team victory until the very last day. It was sad that we couldn’t count on our most important rider for those two final stages. I think we deserved that win and Intxausti would have made us take it should he have been in good condition, and then our overview would be excellent. It was a not-so-typical Giro due to the race control by Liquigas, not allowing any complicated situations except for yesterday, where the race got unblocked and we saw a crazy stage. Hesjedal was the deserved winner of the race because he raced to win, was courageous and got it. The Giro also discovered youngsters to the world, like De Gendt, the two Colombians or Beñat, who must all take on the relay in the years to come.“