Roncone, Italy
BMC Racing Team’s Cadel Evans won Thursday’s stage of the Giro del Trentino and increased his overall lead with one day of the race to go.
Teamwork Played Vital Role
Evans earned his second victory of the season by pulling away with an attack in the last kilometer of the uphill finish of the 184.4-km race. Domenico Pozzovivo (AG2R La Mondiale) finished second, three seconds later, followed by Mikel Landa and Michele Scarponi (both of Astana Pro Team) nine seconds later. The past Tour de France winner and world road champion now leads Pozzovivo by 45 seconds and Tiago Machado (NetApp-Endura) by 59 seconds with another mountain-top finish looming at the end of Friday’s 175-km stage. “I counted on the team all the way until really the last climb with two-and-a-half kilometers to go,” Evans said. “Martin Kohler, Daniel Oss, Steve Morabito, Brent Bookwalter, Sebastian Lander and Rick Zabel were really good. They did all the work until the third last climb. Then Brent and Yannick (Eijssen) and Steve took over and put me in a good position for the stage. Then it was up to me. That’s what you get for being patient and working hard.”
‘Many Attacks At One Moment’
With a fourth-place finish on Wednesday’s stage, Evans had assumed the lead from teammate Daniel Oss after the BMC Racing Team won Tuesday’s Stage 1 team time trial. Controlling Thursday’s stage was not easy, BMC Racing Team Sport Director Fabio Baldato said. “The race was really hard and there were so many attacks at one moment that the guys decided to let a group of 11 go,” he said. “But I saw our team was strong mentally. They were really focused and motivated. Cadel did an amazing final. He did that because he saw the team was really strong all day and really organized.” Evans said he remains focused on conserving his lead on the verge of winning his first multi-day race since the 2012 Critérium International. “It is important for us to think about the GC (general classification) and what we have to do as a team and what I have to do with that as an individual,” he said.
Evans puts his hands on Trentino
Overwhelming display in Roncone
The Australian keeps a tough third stage under control until the winning move in the finale, beating Pozzovivo and Landa to strengthen his lead. Monte Bondone will be the final judge, but Evans earned the favorite’s grades
When a 37-year-old rider who won a Tour de France and a World Championships puts a race in his radar, the only way to stop him is to prove faster than he is. No one could make it on the harsh ascent to Pozza di Roncone, the final act of the third stage. Everything seems to indicate that tomorrow the Giro del Trentino will celebrate its first Australian winner.
Cadel Evans won the third stage in Roncone, strengthening his GC lead, but the whole story was already clear. After winning the team time trial with BMC Racing, taking over the leader’s jersey on day two, Cadel did even more in the third attempt, controlling a tough race in a difficult situation and waiting for the last kilometer to place the final kick. Having got clear with Pozzovivo, Scarponi, Landa and Bongiorno, Evans accelerated with 700 meters to the line; only Pozzovivo could stay on his wake, but could not deny him the day’s success.
“It was a very hard day, both for me and the team, but also an excellent test for the Giro d’Italia – Evans said -. In the finale, I thought I would ride on defense, but I had good feelings and I seized the change to win”. Perfect job for the Australian, who will face the final effort with 45” on Pozzovivo, 59” on Machado, just more than a minute on Anton, Aru, Niemec, Duarte, Zardini, Scarponi.
The closing fourth stage, starting in Val Daone to finish on Monte Bondone (1653 mt.) will move on a nervous and lumpy route until the final 21 km ascent: it was feared by many riders at the time of Charly Gaul’s legendary win (Aldo Moser, who was racing that day, will be there tomorrow for the celebration of his 80th birthday), probably not that much today.
With such small gaps and two tough day under the belt, everything can still happen – in theory. Practically, Evans looks very serene and confident, so much that a collapse seems highly unlikely. Good news is the encouraging performance by the Italian riders – youngsters and not. Nevertheless, Evans is experienced enough to know there is no room for distraction or overconfidence, it is hard to see who could upset his triumph.
Roncone (Italy), April 24th, 2014
