The withdrawal of Joao almeida it was a bad blow for the UAE Emirates. A bolt from the blue that few, if any, expected. The faces of the sports directors and riders at the start from Borgo Valsugana yesterday were grim.
They had worked hard toward this goal and had even raced in a certain way, precisely to support Almeida. There were fewer breakaways than usual, and those that did occur were done almost exclusively with the aim of carrying a man forward if necessary.
The three Italians of the team, "captain" Diego Ulissi and Davide Formolo e Alessandro Covi, we intercepted them yesterday at the end of the fraction, in Treviso.
Ulysses the realist
Diego Ulissi He's the one who seemed most shaken. Immediately after the finish, he was quite upset. And that's understandable, partly due to the fatigue of a stage still raced at full speed and partly due to the awareness that the game is over and there's very little room for recovery.
«How is our Giro changing? And how it changes… we were trying to rank with Almeida, I'll let you imagine…
"We'll try to do something with the remaining resources." And he spent a lot of resources, both for Almeida and for Gaviria.
A few words and Diego runs away through the crowd to return to the buses. But before leaving he adds that he won't have any more time than on other days to try.
Diego is now an expert and knows that time and the road in these last two stages—let's not even consider the time trial—are practically nothing. But knowing him, if he has even half a chance today, he'll do everything to be there at the front.
A word from Formolo
The Veronese hasn't lost his smile and his usual good mood, but yesterday in Treviso he wasn't as cheerful as usual. Not a great day for the UAE Emirates, which began with the Portuguese's withdrawal and ended without Gaviria having played the sprint.
«Without Joao the hope was to do something today (yesterday, ed.) with Fernando – he said Davide formolo – but they were really strong up front. For the rest, we'll take it one day at a time and see what to do. We worked hard for him (Almeida, ed.) and Joao had worked hard for himself. He believed in us, he gave it his all, he was fine and it's really a shame.
"Will I have the chance to try? Yes, but first you need the legs." And today many will want to try.
Covi, disappointment and redemption
From the two veterans we then move on to the little one, to Alessandro CoviWhile Taino's "Puma" is still rejoicing over his Milan's Scudetto win, he's certainly not jumping for joy over Almeida's departure.
«Joao's withdrawal – says Covi – It was a real blow for the whole UAE, not just for us riders. You see a goal vanish… vanish for nothing. And the bad thing is, you can't do anything about it. He was fine, then during the night, from what I understand, he started feeling unwell, and as we were getting on the bus, they told us he wouldn't be leaving."
«How does our Giro change? Eh – he sighs – it's not easy, because it's all the Tour of Italy We've worked hard and managed to save energy very few times. We'll see what happens because there are two stages left and they're tough. I haven't spoken to the sporting directors yet, and I don't know what we'll do."
The Castelmonte stage looks increasingly interesting. There are many twists and turns, many interests. The standings, the stage win... for many, it's the last chance for redemption and The fact that yesterday we didn't finish in a sprint increases the pressure even more. And it increases it even more in UAE Emirates, who, all things considered, hasn't won yet. If Gaviria, for example, had already run a good sprint yesterday...
But words are meaningless. In a few hours, the streets will tell us how things will turn out for Ulissi, Formolo, Covi, and their teammates...
