Third across the finish line in Rome. Ahead of him were Kooij and Groves, followed by Pedersen. Il Tour of Italy by Matteo Moschetti ended with a bitter smile, because when you get on the podium it means you could have also won. And yet There are so many nuances within that placement that one can even be happy about it.A few days earlier, the Q36.5 rider was feeling almost down. That's why we talked about a bitter smile. And that's why We're talking about it with the Milanese, who has been trying to recover as much as possible since Monday, before diving into the next races.
«Honestly, until Rome – he says – I hadn't had any great sensations. It was a Giro with three opportunities for sprints and up until that point I hadn't been able to express myself as I wanted.I felt I could give more, I wanted to redeem a Giro that hadn't been so good. I really cared about it, but Frankly, I was hoping for a victory that after three weeks would have been really good for us».
An unprecedented arrival
The Rome sprint was presented better than the one in Cesano Maderno, where the climbs of the first part had launched Nico Denz, leaving behind him the fragmented group and certainly not lined up for the sprint. The difference compared to previous editions is that in the last stage the sprint would not be on the usual finish line at the Imperial Forums, but on the steep climb above the Circus MaximusTwo hundred meters at 5 percent: stuff for strong legs, especially at the end of the journey.
«We had studied the route well – continues Moschetti – and even if the Liberation Grand Prix don't go on that straight, I already knew the climb we were doing next, so I knew what the route might be like.. Then I couldn't do it, because he won the strongest that was piloted to perfection. It would have been important, the last stage is worth more, but the team was happy. Closing our first Grand Tour on a positive note was a great satisfaction."
The final sprint
The first major stage race for the Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team it had opened with Tom Pidcock's great anticipation, third on the day of Matera and 16th in the final ranking, which however is not never lived up to expectations, much less its reputation.
“I don’t know what the team will evaluate,” says Moschetti, “but we certainly had high expectations. We wanted to do well, also to honor the raceAs far as I'm concerned, they could have foreseen a few more opportunities to sprint, but The race dynamics were unpredictable and the pace was so fast that it was impossible to keep the race under control.It's positive that the last stage included a sprint, it's gratifying for the sprinters who finish the Giro and becomes the best reason to get to the endOf course, having been invited, none of us would have dreamed of going home early to do fewer climbs, but these things happen."
Tricolour doubt
The immediate future speaks of a race in Belgium in mid-June, then the new event Copenhagen Sprint of the WorldTour and then the Italian championships from San Vito al Tagliamento to Gorizia. There are still few details about the route. It is said that it was designed to measure Jonathan Milan, but Moschetti himself is perplexed as to how the Gorizia area could have such flat roads.
Smiling, he says that he will go back to sleep now, because three weeks of Giro d'Italia stick with you for a long time, but he would certainly like to capitalize on the condition they leave in his legs. The rest will depend on the team's evaluations, starting from participation in the VueltaAlthough in Spain the opportunities for sprinters will be even fewer.
