Nicknamed the De Kleerhanger – 'the clothes hanger' – for his broad-shouldered stance on a bike, Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo) continues to give the distinct impression that he will end this Giro d'Italia with the maglia rosa safely stashed away in his wardrobe.
Asked during one press conference this week if he feared anything from the remainder of this Giro, Kruijswijk matter-of-factly replied "I don't have a weak point," and on an individual level, certainly, the Dutchman has seemed a notch above all of his rivals since taking over atop the general classification in Corvara last weekend.
On the Passo della Mendola and Fai della Paganella on Tuesday, and again on the road to Pinerolo on Thursday, Kruijswijk managed affairs with disarming confidence for a man leading a Grand Tour for the first time, shutting down moves in person and then further underlining his superiority by upping the pace at the head of the pink jersey group.
ADVERTISEMENT
The one glaring chink in Kruijswijk's armour at this juncture, it seems, is the relative weakness of a team where only Enrico Battaglin seems equipped to offer any robust support when the road climbs upwards. With two mammoth days in the Alps lying between Kruijswijk and Sunday's concluding passeggiata in Turin, it remains to be seen if Esteban Chaves (Orica-GreenEdge), Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) et al can exploit his comparative lack of support.
Friday's stage 19 sees the Giro cross into France by way of the 2,744-metre-high Colle dell'Agnello, the highest point of the race, ahead of a summit finish at Risoul. Saturday's penultimate stage 20, meanwhile, is shorter – 134 kilometres rather than 163 – but arguably tougher, with the Col de Vars, the 2,715-metre Col de la Bonette and the 2,350-metre Colle della Lombarda on the agenda before the short final haul to Sant'Anna di Vinadio.
"With two days like that, anything can happen, and coming from Colombia, Chaves should have an advantage above 2,500 metres, even if Kruijswijk has been very good so far," Eddy Merckx warned during RAI's Processo alla Tappa post-race show on Thursday evening.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest News http://ift.tt/1qNJ9BF
No comments:
Post a Comment