San Giacomo di Brentonico, Italy
BMC Racing Team’s Cadel Evans finished fourth on Wednesday’s mountain-top finish at the Giro del Trentino to assume the overall lead from teammate Daniel Oss.
Zardini had a perfect day in Brentonico.
‘Pretty Hard Finish’
Evans and a small group chased solo stage winner Edoardo Zardini (Bardiani-CSF), who broke away midway up the final climb of the 164.5-kilometer race that finished in a mix of rain and sleet. Evans arrived 19 seconds later – behind runner-up Przemyslaw Niemiec (Lampre-Merida) and Fabio Duarte (Colombia Cycling Team). “To concede less seconds would have been better, but everyone was on their own in the final kilometers,” Evans said. “With a hilltop finish and cold weather, it was a pretty hard finish for the first road stage. But it puts us in a good position. A bigger margin would be better, but most of all, it’s a step toward the Giro d’Italia and for us as a team to go through the competition routine of holding and defending the jersey.”
Evans takes the Lead
With two stages of the race to go – both featuring uphill finishes – Evans is nine seconds ahead of Zardini in the overall standings, with Niemiecis at 17 seconds and Duarte at 23 seconds. In all, 15 riders are within a minute of the lead, including Evan’s teammate, Steve Morabito, who is eighth at 36 seconds. “I have to look at the course details, but I guess tomorrow is more of the same,” Evans said. “We will have to ride well as a team to control the breakaway during the stage. There is another selective finish and, of course, now I will be the rider that everyone will be looking to beat.” With Oss wearing the fuchsia jersey of race leader on Wednesday’s stage, the BMC Racing Team spent much of the race on the front pulling back a three-man breakaway that led by nearly nine minutes at one point. “Guys like Steve Morabito and Daniel Oss and Yannick Eijssen set a really good tempo for the first half of the climb,” Evans said.
Zardini win
24 year-old Zardini from Peschiera surprised the main favorites in San Giacomo to take a solo win. He soloed all the way to the San Giacomo di Brentonico uphill finish. He surprised the biggest names of the race, but no one is really disappointed. It is always a privilege to see a new talent flourish.
The San Giacomo climb did not open huge gaps: Niemec, Duarte, Evans, Pozzovivo, Aru and Pellizotti got to the finish in a handful of seconds, Scarponi a little behind, but all of them are still well in contention for the GC, currently led by Cadel Evans with a 9” advantage on today’s hero. “I really like this race, I will definitely battle to come out on top of it,” said the Australian in bold fashion, like a man with a goal well fixed in his mind.
The upcoming climbs tomorrow, the third stage – Mori – Roncone (loc. Pozza) – should come up to an exciting fight on the final uphill. And then, on Friday, the great showdown to Monte Bondone: climbers will find their terrain. The Italian attacked with 10 km to go along with Pirazzi, Caruso and Van Rensburg (eventually joined by Landa), Zardini then left the company at the 6 km mark, upsetting all those who thought he would bounce back. “I realized it was my only chance, or we would have been caught and my dream would have vanished. Winning a stage like this, at the Giro del Trentino, just a few kilometres from home…” Around him, the noise and euphory of his group of faithfuls, guided by Edoardo’s dad, clearly touched. Team Manager Bruno Reverberi also spoke highly of his young man: “he is a talented and well-educated guy, and it’s not easy to find both qualities in the same person.”
In theory, he could even have a shot for the overall GC, “but I know who is standing in front of me, so I can be happy with this win.” On the other hand, Cadel Evans speaks of serious intentions after taking the Fuchsia jersey from teammate Daniel Oss, who predictably finished behind today after his glorious moment in Arco. As of today, the Australian should be 38th Giro del Trentino’s #1 favorite, but there’s still a long game to play. Scarponi looks competitive, even though his younger teammate Fabio Aru can probably boast a better condition. Pozzovivo and Pellizotti can’t be counted out as well. But now, Poland’s Niemec and Colombia’s Duarte call for a place among the big favorites. Igor Anton and Tiago Machado also showed promising signs, and youngster Bongiorno must be kept a close eye on.
It was clear from the beginning that San Giacomo di Brentonico would say a final word on who would not win the Giro del Trentino, and so it was: Ivan Basso (1’49” his delay on the finish), Bradley Wiggins (2’46”), Dario Cataldo (3’30”), Moreno Moser (6’02”) are out of the game. We will find out more day after day into another thrilling edition. Tomorrow, watch out for the third episode: Mori – Roncone, 184,4 km, start at 10,30, delayed coverage on RaiSport from 6 PM.
San Giacomo di Brentonico (Italy), April 23rd, 2014
