BMC's Darwin Atapuma appeared on the cusp of a debut grand tour stage victory on stage 14 of the Giro d'Italia but in the end it was fellow Colombian Esteban Chaves raising his arm in triumph. Atapuma was caught in the finale of the Giro's queen stage by Chaves, new maglia rosa Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo) and breakaway companion Georg Preidler, and with his dream of a victory sailing past with the trio, he crossed the line in the inconsequential position of fourth place wondering what could have been.
Having crossed the line, Atapuma slowly came to a stop, unclipping from his pedals and slumping his head over his handlebars.
"To be honest I think I need a while to really absorb what happened today and reflect on the stage," Atapuma said via a team press release having returned to the team bus without answering questions from the press. "To come so close, on a stage like today, is devastating. I felt really good throughout the stage, had good legs and good sensations, and it was going perfectly. I gave it absolute everything when I attacked on the final climb, I thought if I could just hold on to my gap in the descent, I could make it in those final kilometers."
ADVERTISEMENT
The 28-year-old improved his overall position from 24th to 14th but it was the stage win Atapuma was dreaming of. With several big mountain stages to come, there will be other opportunities for Atapuma who explained he will try again but knows stage 14 is one that got away.
"I'm exhausted both mentally and physically. It would have been one of the best wins of my career. I just kept hoping and hoping that I would stay clear. But on a stage like today, it's rare that everything goes to plan. I hope I'll have more opportunities in the next week of racing," he said.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest News http://ift.tt/27MYSCD
No comments:
Post a Comment