The day after the ski sprint which involved the boys of the MBH Bank-Colpack-Ballan and two after the first uphill finish at Pian della Mussa, tomorrow the road will start to climb again. The continental team from Bergamo finds itself with both its captains still in the standings, Kajamini seventh at 1'07” (photo NB Srl at the beginning) and Novak two seconds behind. After the climb in Piedmont, the group arrived in Lombardy, from where the queen stage of this will start Giro Next Gen: the Borgo Virgilio-Fosse.
Contain the damage
Florian Kajamini he is also the best Italian in the ranking, the closest Azzurri are Pinarello and Scalco, the duo of the Vf Group Bardiani it's more than a minute away. The MBH Bank-Colpack rider takes stock at the halfway point of the Giro, before returning to battle on the Fosse ramps.
«During the Pian della Mussa stage – Kajamini lucidly recounts – the Belgian rider from Lotto Dstny Devo, Jarno Widar, was in a state of absolute turmoil. He placed several sprints before leading a trio and then winning aloneNovak and I did a good job of holding on and limiting the damage, accumulating only 27 seconds. Personally I wasn't feeling very well, my legs were a bit cramped., probably due to the quota. As soon as I go above 1.500 meters I suffer a bit' and at Pian della Mussa the hardest part of the climb was from 1.600 metres upwards».
Don't answer
Jarno Widar won the pink jersey right on the ramps of Pian della Mussa. He edged Toussaint by 21 seconds and Rondel, respectively of the I have to team up Intermarché and Tudor. Their lead in the standings is also the result of the Aosta time trial, where Widar was the best overall finisher.
«Widar was really doing very well – continues Kajamini – he was having a great day. As they say in these cases, "he didn't feel the chain." So it was important not to waste too much time. The climb wasn't the hardest; it was long, but not impossible. The 19 kilometers of ascent included plenty of "refreshments" that allowed for a breather. The most challenging part was the last three kilometers, we were all waiting for that point. The pace was quite high right from the start, so much so that we started the final climb with a group of about twenty riders. As I said, I wasn't feeling particularly well, perhaps partly due to the altitude. Then I'm someone who goes out as the days go by, so I look to tomorrow with confidence."
The team is ready
The guys from MBH Bank-Colpack are working in an optimal way and are in line with the program dictated by the sports director Gianluca Valoti.
«It's important for the team that Novak and I managed to stay in the standings – he explains – we're doing well. Everyone is going strong: Nespoli, Ambrosini, Bagatin and Valent They're always by our side. The work at altitude seems to have paid off, now it's up to us to assert ourselves and see what happens."
«In the standings we are all close, between the second who is RondeNovak, eighth, they only dance for 30 secondsEverything is still to be decided, and tomorrow's stage features five real climbs, with the final climb of Fosse measuring 9 kilometers with an average gradient of 8,5 percent. The first damage can be done there and there are two of us, this plays in our favor.».
So much fear for nothing
Meanwhile, in yesterday's stage with arrival in Borgomanero Kajamini and Novak were involved in a crash with 40 kilometers to goMany people ended up on the ground but fortunately there was no damage.
"I just have a few grazes on my knee," Kajamini says, "but I'm fine. In the final kilometers, there was this group crash caused by two guys who touched their tires. We were also quite far ahead, around thirtieth positionIn the end, there are no easy stages. Yesterday's was easy in terms of altitude, but then it turned out to be very tense. There was even a crash in the final sprint. On days like these it's important to come home safe and sound, we had a real scare.Even today (a completely flat section, ed.) we'll have to keep our eyes open."
"Our legs," he concludes, "are working well. These stages can help us get things moving a bit, but the real answer will come tomorrow. In the meantime, we're enjoying the ride home., since we're leaving from Bergamo (the start is scheduled for 13pm, ed.) we'll try to do well."
