"We did a really good job. We are fighting with the big names, we are there and we can be proud."
Giulio Ciccone sprinted to third place, and took some valuable bonus seconds on the line, on stage three of Volta Ciclista a Catalunya.
After being supported by his teammates all day, the stage predictably came down to the final climb to the top of La Molina and while he wasn’t able to go with the move of Remco Evenepoel (Soudal – Quick Step) and Primoz Roglic (Team Jumbo Visma), Ciccone continued to fight hard and, in the end, was the ‘best of the rest’ 13 seconds back.
Cicco’s Reaction
“It was a really fast stage right from the start. It was also a really really hard stage. Almost 4000 meters of altitude. We went fast but we were always there together and knew things were under control. On the second last climb, the long climb, they [Quickstep] were already setting a really hard tempo and we tried to manage our energy. Then in the final, when I understood I was not able to follow Evenepoel and Roglic, I started to think about the bonus seconds available in the sprint for third on the line. The tempo was already really fast for about five minutes before they attacked so I think we [the group behind] were already on the limit so we all just tried to continue with our own tempo. Today they were on another level but I think in the end, we can be happy. We did a really good job. We are fighting with the big names, we are there and we can be proud.”
More photos from Stage 3
