He would have died rather than lose this sprint. Jai Hindley started longer than anyone and resisted the comeback of Bardet and Carapaz, hunching over the handlebars and letting his legs curl around a gear that's too long. For the boy from Perth which has been running since this year Bora Hansgrohe What was at stake was a return to life. To a certain kind of life, at least. Last victory at the Cancano Lakes, Giro d'Italia 2020: the one in October and the terrible kids who then disappeared. From him, precisely, to Tao Geoghegan Hart. And now he has the same incredulous smile as back then, even though he had a close call in the middle.
Abruzzese from Australia
He says smiling that In the last minutes of the race, memories of his amateur training sessions at Passo Lanciano flashed through his eyes.: the climb that for Abruzzo riders is a training ground and a test.
«As an amateur – recalls Hindley with the face of a child and the voice of a grown man – I lived for six months in Abruzzo with the Aran Cucine team of Umberto Di GiuseppeI used to train on Passo Lanciano and knew the climb very well. This place is like a second home to me and it was really nice to winIt's been a while since I've been at the level to win. As I've said in other interviews, last year was not a good year at allA series of falls and then at the Giro I suffered from poor health and dropped out of the race. I took a long recovery period and this affected the rest of my season».
Porte's pace on the last two climbs was hellish: his work decimated the group Porte will also retire at the end of the year after an exemplary career and a podium at the Tour
Porte's pace on the last two climbs was hellish: his work decimated the group Porte will also retire at the end of the year after an exemplary career and a podium at the Tour
Porte's work
There isn't the crowd of big occasions on the Blockhaus, it seems because three out of four slopes have been closed since yesterday and people haven't been able to come up with their campers, and yet Now that the descent towards the valley begins, the streets are filling up with fans who have jumped out from who knows where.
La Ineos had promised to break everything and they kept their word., with a star gate that no one talks about. Carapaz had promised to detach everyone and he came close.: Bardet and Landa stood up to him and postponed until next time.
Certainly the mountain of Chieti, which in distant times baptized Eddy Merckx, has Simon Yates' ambitions sent home (11'15" behind), the young Vansevenant, Tom Dumoulin, and, much more significantly, Giulio Ciccone. Nibali, however, was back, more lively than he has been in a long time: if his legs continue to grow, the Shark's finale will be a masterpiece. And if the pink jersey remains on the shoulders of "Juanpe" Lopez, the ranking is now very short.
A sense of exhaustion at the end in Tom Dumoulin's gaze All day, we had the title in our heads: a day as a Shark in the mountains of Abruzzo. But Nibali is there.
A sense of exhaustion at the end in Tom Dumoulin's gaze All day, we had the title in our heads: a day as a Shark in the mountains of Abruzzo. But Nibali is there.
Eight in a minute
Eight riders in less than a minute, including Pozzovivo, and Hindley moved up to fifth place, 20 seconds off the lead.
«We came with very high ambitions – explains Hindley – with three leaders (today Kamna and especially Kelderman paid a heavy price, ed.). We're at the end of the first part of the race, it's still long and I'm still happy we have more options. I knew that when Richie moved, the attacks would begin. I didn't feel super explosive. I struggled a bit, but I took my time. I tried to maintain the gap and not lose ground. Eventually, we got back. Almeida was super strong, I tried to surviveI knew that The last few kilometers were a bit flat, so I used them to recover a bit. And I also knew I had to take the lead in the last corner and that with 200 meters to go we had to go."
