Guerreiro: “We Portuguese have talent”
It was a miserable day in the mountains.
The first rest day of the 2020 Giro d’Italia is tomorrow, and that gave the riders a reason to push hard today and recover tomorrow. The 208km stage was undulating, steadily rising upwards as the day went on, with four categorized climbs to make the going tough. Starting with a first category before moving on to two second categories, with the finale taking place on a first category ascent into Roccaraso.
Starting in rain, this wasn’t enough to dampen the spirits of the breakaway, as several attempts to escape were pulled back quickly, the peloton keeping speeds high on the flatter start to the stage. After more than 50km, as the gradient began to steepen, a small group of seven finally managed to get away, quickly taking two minutes’ advantage over the peloton, and this grew to seven minutes at its peak. The miserable weather meant the peloton was in no hurry to make the catch, and even as the race moved into its final 50km, this lead was still at 4:30, with the now five riders working together well to keep the peloton at bay, just as riders were being left behind as the climbs stacked up. With many riders in rain jackets or arm warmers, the first category summit finish was going to be demoralizing.
While some attacks came from riders lower down the overall standings and the break started to splinter, the expected GC battle didn’t take place until the very end.
With the arrival in Roccaraso, the Portuguese managed to beat his escapee teammate Castroviejo in the sprint: “I’m very cold now, but this is a wonderful victory”.
Ruben Guerreiro, the first victory in the Giro for him, spoke of his satisfaction in front of the microphones: “I’m very cold now, but this is a wonderful victory . I finally succeeded: the whole team deserves this success. We tried many times, today it was a great fight. Joao Almeida? He lives close to me, we know each other very well. There is talent in this new Portuguese generation. “
THE PINK JERSEY—
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Despite a difficult moment in the final, Guerreiro’s compatriot, 22-year-old Joao Almeida, kept the symbol of primacy: “My team did an incredible job, it was perfect: I wear the pink jersey thanks to them. I’m a person rather calm, but I’m so happy for Guerreiro’s victory, he really deserves it. I congratulate him. “
Stage 9 results
1. Ruben Guerrero (EF) 5:41:20
2. Jonathan Castroviejo (Ineos-Grenadier) +8 ”
3. Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Team Emirates) +58 ”
General classification after the 9th stage
1. Joao Almeida (Deceuninck-Quick Step) 35:35:50
2. Wilco Kelderman (Sunweb) +30 ”
3. Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-McLaren) +39 ”
