wake up. Poke a colleague on the couch, your partner in the office or ring your neighbor's doorbell. Call your relative so you don't miss it. Tune in to the Giro, there is finally a battle. The fans, converted into that Galeano show beggar in soccer, had almost given up. Not to believe The favorites show their faces, they move, they take risks, they turn their cheeks, they attack each other, they are left alone in the lead. And, oh, surprise, the one who moves the tree the most wins, the most ambitious, the least calculating. Something that doesn't always happen but that reconciles with high altitude cycling. Lesson for the racanos.
The one who spent the most cartridges was João Almeida, who put his team to work with an offensive tactic in the last game, with a hard pace. The Portuguese was also the first to attack, with more than 5 km to go, to do damage. And the one from the UAE was the one who took the stage. Although it could not be alone because Geraint Thomas hit the wheel to recover the pink jersey and distance Roglic.
The tour was worth it. The attitude of the cyclists too. Mount Bondone, witness to Gaul's great triumph in 1956, the first of the great mountain stages of the fearsome third week, was the scene where the masks fell.
Nothing for a walk The tranran is over. End to let the escape do. Almeida's UAE bet heavily on the long Bondone, between Lake Garda and Trento. At 14 from the top, he steps up with Formolo, Vine and McNulty. The three squires of the Portuguese select the group, leaving it scrawny. Armirail says goodbye to the borrowed pink -Thomas gave it to her and he took it from her-. Six men remain in the lead. The three great favorites and the Irish Dunbar plus Vine, who is very inspired, and Kuss, pending a disconcerting Roglic.
Then Almeida accelerates and when Thomas sees Roglic in trouble he also goes ahead. The Slovenian suffers. There you have the answer. He is not overflowing. He didn't move because he couldn't. Thats the reality. It's not that he doesn't want to reserve and go all-in on bonuses, it's that he can't follow them. It was not a definite collapse. The good work of Kuss, his lieutenant, saved him from elimination. He wasted half a minute.
Almeida has done damage and feels strong. The young man is driven by the desire to win. After four Spins he is still looking for the first stage of it. Thomas, the years go by and it's still solid. That's how he won the 2018 Tour, without firecrackers. But the veteran is little given to joy. Since the yellow of Paris he has only reaped three other victories. Peccadillo. The Portuguese takes the sprint, a prize for his insistence. The Welshman hangs the pink again, an award for his constancy.
“I was fine. If you don't try, you never know. I have tried and I have succeeded. It is a very special day ”, says Almeida, to whom Mount Bondone, his attack and the victory (the third for the UAE), gives him morale. “I will always go for more. My idea is to give everything until the end ”, he advises Geraint Thomas.
