They pass 8 seconds apart. Gavazzi and Carboni, the two Italians in the breakaway with the French, the Spanish, the two Belgians, the German and the Colombian. Gavazzi comes second and it makes you want to bite your fingers a little. Carboni is fifth in the end, after having ridden at the front of the race for a while. Catching the day's damned breakaway was no easy feat. Almost 60 kilometers of shots and counter shots. Almost as if it were the end of the Giro and the whole group wanted to leave its mark in some way. Even if there are two weeks leftAnd they will certainly feel days like this in their legs.
Disappointment 2020
Gavazzi speaks little. The last months of his career were a toboggan run of changes of direction, disappointments and comebacks.We met him by chance, one morning in Giro d'Italia U23 on the lakeside of Colico, while having breakfast. A clear and beautiful morning, which led to the Tour of Italy in which Francis would have taken part. Yet history turned out differently, his season was coming to an end.
«In some ways it never started – he told at the end of the year to Filippo Lorenzon – I was excluded from the Giro d'Italia let's say due to misunderstandings with the team...».
To save him from his bad mood came Ivan Basso, who needed to put some name of substance in the nascent Eolo-Kometa to act as a mother hen for the younger ones. Someone capable of practicality.
The opportunity of a lifetime
«Unfortunately it didn't work out – he says today after a second place that stings, but speaks of a rider still in form – but at 36, being here fighting for a victory is important. We'll try again. In hindsight, maybe it was right to follow Lafay when he started. He also rode strongly, so congratulations. The team's goal since the start of the Giro has been to win a stage. Today I had the opportunity of a lifetime. A victory at the Giro would have repaid the sacrifices of an entire career.It would have been a huge thrill. Just catching the breakaway was a great thing. I fought until the end. Unfortunately, I only finished second, like so many others I've had. We have to accept it and we'll try again tomorrow.».
Make or break
Carboni we feel that he's eating on the bus after the stage. The commentators on TV, especially Garzelli, said that perhaps his mistake was wanting to follow Campenaerts, which sent him off track too soon.
«In reality – he explains – I followed him because he is a great rouleur and I hoped he would take me to the foot of the climb with a good margin. But after the first two changes, I noticed that he was rowing and not moving forwardBut by then I was off and running. The whole team had to try today, and having caught the right breakaway was a nice way to repay the teammates who attacked in the past few days. Honestly, I couldn't hear the radio very well, so I didn't know Lafay was coming. It's all or nothing. Today they broke me, maybe next time it will be okay for me.».
Another chase
His season is actually started in February, given that Covid kept him company throughout January. The Tour of the Alps It was a tough pill to swallow, but now his legs are turning the right way and if the allergies give him a break, he'll try again.
«The team is running well – he says – and in the final stages I probably paid the price for the effort I made to join the breakaway. It doesn't always happen that three-quarters of the group want to join the breakaway. Today they were all thereI'm fine, we'll see each other again..."
