Italy has always been a country of tradition. It is convenient not to discard the old rockers ahead of time. In a cycling where everything goes so fast, where you get elevated at the slightest and young people rise and stand out at an earlier age, experience continues to have added value. In the Giro the trend increases even more. Evenepoel, Milan, Healy, Mayrhofer... all have already been or are expected to be protagonists and all are from the year 2000. In fact, last year only three cyclists who were over 30 years old won stages. It was Cavendish, De Gendt and Hirt who saved the honor of the veterans.
Michael Matthews is one of those who refuses to lose prominence to the new batches, who fights not to be forgotten. The third stage of the Corsa Rosa served to make the Australian raise his hand and say that we still have to count on him. The Australian from Jayco played his tricks perfectly, took advantage of the route and ordered his teammates to shoot to eliminate the pure sprinters and then, in a small group (60 units) he beat a Pedersen who was made to suffer, was let down and had to expend strength to re-enter.
In the sprint, the Dane was not so fresh and Matthews surprised him. The Australian is one of those fast men (silver in the 15 World Cup, bronze in 2017 and 2022) who always needs a different finish to prevail. But he is smart. He already has 10 partial wins in the grand tours. Never underestimate the wisdom and tenacity of the mature. “Gallina vecchia fa buon caldo”, Valentino Rossi chose as his motto on his day.
The Aussie is only 32 years old but he has been in the peloton for a long time, so much so that he is still one of those who puts a plaster on his nose to open his airways. Something that is rarely seen in cyclists now. It was all the rage in 2014 and 2015, when Matthews won his first two stages at the Giro. Eight years later, he repeated in Melfi.
A little before that sprint for the win there was another, in Rapolla, for the bonus. And there they got Evenepoel and Roglic, two others who dispute a generational duel. Ten years separate them. “It didn't cost me too much energy. If there are those seconds in the sprint, you have to try it”, explained the Belgian, who protected his pink jersey by adding three seconds just before the first contact of the mountain arrives this Tuesday, with a route with three second-class climbs. The last one, Colle Molella, is crowned three km from the finish line at Lake Laceno.
