Thibaut Pinot is, Nairo Quintana conceded on Friday evening, un hombre muy peligroso – a very dangerous man. For two days running, however, Quintana has allowed Pinot to escape him on the final climb, and as the Giro d'Italia reaches its fourth weekend, the Frenchman finds himself just 53 seconds off the maglia rosa.
At Ortisei on Thursday, Pinot's gain of a minute came partly through circumstance, as Quintana, Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) and Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) each refused to help the other peg back his smart attack in the finale.
On Piancavallo on Friday, Pinot's 12 seconds were all earned à la pédale, after he forged clear of the group of favourites 7 kilometres from the summit. At one point, the FDJ man held an even larger margin over Quintana, Nibali et al, but though the chasers closed in as the gradient eased near the summit, he did enough to claw back time on all of his podium rivals.
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"I attacked because I wanted to have a go. I got away alone which was a pity because I'd like have liked some riders with me as the finale was quite rolling," Pinot said after rolling to a halt past the finish line. "Voilà, you had to try. The gap grew and I gave the maximum all the way to the finish.
"I don't know the exact gaps now, but it's been a good day regardless. Tomorrow is a big day again, so nothing is decided."
Pinot's attack came four kilometres after the race leader Dumoulin was distanced under the weight of Movistar's forcing. By day's end, Dumoulin would concede 1:21 to Pinot, and hand over his maglia rosa to Quintana. In the general classification, Pinot remains fourth overall, but he is only 53 seconds behind Quintana, 15 down on Dumoulin, and just 10 seconds off Nibali and the third step of the podium in Milan, his stated objective from the outset. "That's the goal," Pinot reiterated on Friday.
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