Giro d'Italia - final comment by Eusebio Unzué
Eusebio Unzué dissects overall strong 2015 Giro d'Italia performance from Movistar Team, as Blues conquer one stage with Beñat Intxausti, the King of the Mountains' jersey with Giovanni Visconti and Andrey Amador's fourth place overall
Milan received the 163 survivors of the 98th Giro d'Italia on Sunday, with Alberto Contador (TCS) taking overall honours after a race full of emotions, as underlined by the Movistar Team's general manager Eusebio Unzué. “I think everyone who followed this year's Giro on TV could enjoy a real movie in every stage. There was no day without a share of emotions; we always had something interesting going on into the race."
One stage win -conquered by Beñat Intxausti in Campitello Matese-, the Maglia Azzurra for the best climber by Giovanni Visconti and, overall, the fourth place by Andrey Amador -one of the biggest revelations of the race- in the general classification complete a notable performance by the telephone squad. “I'd highlight the fantastic behavior by the whole team all over the race. We came here with a 'free ticket' for everyone to try their best and succeed, aiming for stage wins while Beñat and Ion (Izagirre) set their goals on the GC. Due to reasons we already witnessed during the first week, neither of those two could fight for that first goal, but in exchange, the race gave us the rest.”
“We were present in all 'serious' breaks -with Jesús Herrada, Rubén Fernández both showing details of great quality-; the youngsters have taken their game one step up while the veterans showed constance; Intxausti took the stage win that made us more comfortable; and Visconti made an impressive Giro and was rewarded with the KOM jersey, contested until the very final climb and even more prestigious considering he took it against a GC contender like Mikel Landa.”
And, of course, “day by day, we found that Andrey could fight for the overall classification. He rode an excellent TT and got to the big mountains in a fantastic third overall and in high morale. Every single day since, he stayed with the top guys into the climbs, or really close to them, up to this final weekend. He confirmed he's mature enough to aim for these goals, showed his experience, and allowed us to stay 100% focused on a certain goal in this Giro, even dreaming of the final podium.” Unzué only regrets that “Juanjo (Lobato), whom I think he had a stage win in his legs, crashed out of the race and wasn't able to sarch for the victory today in Milan. We're not a team with a culture of working hard for sprinters -we barely had a few of them-, and having to fight against more appropriate structures for those duties made him reach the flat finishes in inferior conditions to them. But, all in all, I think it was a good experience for him."
Regarding the overall result, Unzué highlighted “the enormous intelligent which Alberto (Contador) showed to manage the race strategy. It was a Giro full of different circumstances, which made that only Fabio Aru could stand and fight for the overall until the very last day, out of that long list of pre-race favourites. Also, as usually happens in Grand Tours, some youngsters came into the spotlight, as well Andrey as Mikel himself. But, looking at how Alberto dominated his rivals in the TT, I think everyone pretty much rode for second place."