Pierre Rolland and the Cannondale-Drapac team celebrated their first Grand Tour stage victory in two years at the Giro d'Italia on Wednesday, with all the riders smiling and celebrating as they crossed the stage 17 finish line in Canazei.
Rolland is the elder statesman at Cannondale-Drapac. He comes from the traditional school of French cycling but has fit in well at the US-registered team. Like any many of the riders in the green argyle colours, he is a unique character, a maverick but also a talented rider who loves what he does and fights the daily pain of Grand Tours in the hope of a stage victory like this one.
"This was totally worth two weeks of suffering," Cannondale-Drapac's Michael Woods said after finishing ninth in the rest of the attack of the day that was unable to chase down Rolland in the finale. Woods played a key role in the breakaway, blocking the chase in the final kilometres, ready to fight for victory in the sprint if needed.
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"This was the most special moment that I had on a bike, seeing Pierre ride away like that, that was amazing. We've been racing like we want to win, like champions. I think today we proved that."
Rolland was happy too. He has won two stages at the Tour de France, including one at L'Alpe d'Huez in 2011, but this was his first win since leaving Team Europcar to join Cannondale in 2016. He was almost in tears after the finish after also ending his own two-year drought.
"It wasn't really the day for me but I went for it," he explained later in the press conference.
Happy to give up the GC and target stage victories
A role model more than a road captain
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