Giro de Italia (et. 20)
Ecuadorian from Movistar Team -who will get to Verona's TT showdown with a margin of 1'54"- proves his generosity by supporting Mikel's chances to reach a third place overall he will defend tomorrow with 23" over Primoz Roglic (TJV).
Three lessons: one of courage, another one of generosity, and a long-standing one of teamwork. Mikel Landa, Richard Carapaz and the Movistar Team showed until the final mountainous stage of the 2019 Giro d’Italia they were the main factor in the race’s toughest routes, and were really close to claiming victory at the Dolomitic ‘tappone’ of Monte Avena with Landa (2nd), who entered the provisional GC podium in the process.
The Telefónica-backed squad’s two GC references held themselves together against the flurry of attacks at the initial Cima Campo (Cat-2), then had excellent support before the last two climbs. Tempo work from José Joaquín Rojas, Héctor Carretero and Lluís Mas; an impressive pace down the valley by Andrey Amador to help his team-mates stand a chance of stage success; and the solid pace into the climbs by Antonio Pedrero all helped Carapaz and Landa had an opportunity to seek for their goals today.
Richard put himself at Mikel’s service into the last ascent, as Primoz Roglic (TJV) struggled, to open the gaps -nearly 1′ at the finish between the Basque and the Slovenian; 23″ now in the GC for the Murgia native– and even seek for a stage win which ended into the hands of Pello Bilbao (AST), ahead of Landa. 1’54” will be the gap Carapaz will defend against Nibali (TBM) in the 17km ITT that could see him claiming a first career Grand Tour victory.
REACTION / Richard Carapaz:
“There was a big selection at the climb of Croce d’Aune, we were just the two of us – Mikel and I – and so I sought for him to have a chance to winning the stage and hopefully take a place on the podium. Everyone in the team did everything they could to retain and improve our current results – it’s been a spectacular Giro d’Italia from the whole team, a really tough race, yet with a spectacular performance from all members.
“Right now I can’t express how I feel. These days’ are a sensation and a situation I haven’t experienced before. My family -my wife and kids- have come over from Ecuador to live this moment together with me, and now it’s only one stage left. I’m emotional and happy with everything the boys have done for me. I’m already thinking about tomorrow and that 1’54” gap we’re holding – I don’t feel like we should lose so much time tomorrow, I think it should be enough, yet anything can happen into a race. The only thing I hope from tomorrow: enjoying the day to the fullest.”
Cover picture (c): BettiniPhoto