A day after Guilio Ciccone's Giro ended prematurely, Carlos was given his opportunity today and seized it with both hands.
Carlos can often be found sitting for hours on end at the front of the peloton or protecting his teammates. Getting bottles, blocking wind or even just providing morale for the team, Carlos’ work never stops and he does it all with a smile on his face. 24 hours after Ciccone’s GC hopes went up in smoke thanks to a nasty fall on slippery cobbles, the team refocused and came out fighting today. Patrick Konrad and Mathias Vacek made the early breakaway of the day in a bid for glory.
The 219km stage from Fiume Veneto to Asiago—the longest of this year’s Giro—featured some iconic climbs including the legendary Monte Grappa. Verona launched a decisive solo attack on the Passo Dori climb, roughly 44 km from the finish, breaking clear from the group of favourites. Once he got the gap, it was head down and push all the way to the line. Carlos had extra incentive to cross the finish first too, as his wife and children were standing on the other side. Very few people deserve this victory more than him and we can all agree that this is popular victory among the cycling community – one for the good guys. Enjoy your first Grand Tour stage win, Carlos!
Words from the winner..
I was very happy for that because I came to this Giro knowing that my role was full support for Pedersen and Ciccone, and I was super happy with that. I was enjoying this finish even more because it was the first one I didn’t have the ambition to win a stage. Then, everything changed yesterday when we lost Cicco and today I thought, ok maybe I don’t want to do it for me, but I have to do it for the Team. Today I was riding with my mind and my legs with them, especially Ciccone because I know how much he worked for this race, how many sacrifices he made. When you are a helper you need to be there to help them, but when they are not there you also need to be there for the team and today I was with all my head for this team.
I missed the original breakaway by maybe one rider, and I said ‘ah the chance is gone’ but I kept focused, I always like to think that everything happens for a reason, so I hung onto the group of favorites and I saw that we were not more than 10-15 guys and I had the legs to be there. When we came together I thought ‘today is my day, with these legs I have to go for the victory’, and I knew I had to go from far because I’m not really fast, but my diesel engine is there, I’ve prepared for this Giro very well with a lot of confidence from the team and I had to do it for them.
