Thomas’ winning finish at the finish line in Lucca (photo on Facebook Giro d’Italia – Lapresse)
LUCCA. It was supposed to be a stage for the sprinters, but the group’s tactics allowed the four-man breakaway to succeed.
The fifth fraction, cwho brought the Giro d’Italia from Liguria to Tuscanyit was not completely flat but was considered among those available to men with fast wheels.
And, instead, it was the French that prevailed Ben Thomasan endurance specialist with five world titles won on the track, who regulated the escapees in the final, with the peloton arriving at about fifteen seconds after moving excessively late.
After an overall calm first part of the stage, with some attempts thwarted by some teams (who aimed to leave some sprinters behind), about sixty kilometers from the finish line four of them escape, the Belluno native Andrea Pietrobon, the French Enzo Palemi and Benjamin Thomas and the Danish Michael Valgren. The group initially lets it go, then they start “pulling” the men of Lidl – Trek for Jonathan Milan, without however finding allies.
When all the sprinter teams take the lead it’s too latebecause those in front are going very fast and, above all, the descent at the end prevents the fugitives from returning.
At the last kilometre, the pacesetters still have around thirty seconds: Andrea Pietrobon, born in Belluno in 1999, tries to get ahead of everyone, leaps over his opponents and gains about twenty metres. He’s “at full speed” when he starts behind him Thomas, who prevailed at the finish line in Lucca, overtaking Valgren and Pietrobon himself, who finished third with the regret of having been caught a few meters away from the triumph.
Thomas’ words at the end of the stage were beautiful. “Sometimes you have to take risks. If we don’t take risks we don’t win anything in life. I’m not a great champion on the road, but today I had my day as a champion.”
Tomorrow – Thursday 9 May – things get serious again for the men in the rankings with the fascinating stage that will lead from Torre del Lago Puccini to Rapolano Terme: first the fourth category Gpm of Volterra, and then continue on the dirt roads of the Strade Bianche for a total of 12 kilometers of dirt road, with the second stretch, “Bagnaia”, which has gradients of up to 15%. The arrival will be very challenging: on climb that will end in Rapolano Terme the slope will also reach 20% with a final straight line of 45,450 meters at 6%.
