After climbing the four flights of stairs that led to the cramped press conference room in Tortona, Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step Floors) announced his arrival by pausing in the landing and letting out an exaggerated exhalation. Those steps might well have been the only thing that posed a challenge to him on stage 13 of the Giro d'Italia.
A day before the Giro celebrates the late Marco Pantani's comeback at Oropa in 1999 – he caught and passed 49 riders en route to victory there, though Pantani would be sent home from the race a week later due to a high haematocrit – Gaviria produced a spectacular rimonta of his own in the finishing straight on Corso Cavour.
Already winner of a hat-trick of stages, Gaviria's situation seemed hopeless as the sprint began, but the Colombian somehow came from thirteenth wheel on the final bend to surge forward and take the spoils ahead of Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo).
ADVERTISEMENT
"It wasn't impossible, but I didn't believe I could win," Gaviria said. "We were a long way back when the sprint began but the only thing I could do was try. It's the first time I've won a race like that in my career. We felt like the race could be a war today and in the end, we won our battle, so I'm very happy."
It proved to be a fraught final 200 metres, as Quick-Step Floors' Max Richeze made contact with Caleb Ewan (Orica-Scott) after first allowing just enough room for Gaviria to squeeze between him and the right-hand barrier. Richeze was forced to unclip to stay upright as he brushed against Ewan, but Gaviria simply swooped past them, and then came around Bennett within sight of the line. "Cycling is a contact sport when it's a sprint," Gaviria said. "The only thing you can do is stay calm, follow your tactics and try to do as clean a sprint as possible."
Gym work and Monuments
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest News http://ift.tt/2qHGlbi
No comments:
Post a Comment