You can’t get more pink than this. The phenomenal Tadej Pogacar kept the promise he made to the fans: he won the 184 kilometer Alpago-Bassano del Grappa, the penultimate stage of the Giro d’Italia, with a difference in altitude of 3,200 meters in the last 100. The Slovenian from Uae Emirates signed the 6th stage success of this Giro even though it wasn’t necessary. He was an unassailable pink jersey, there was no need for the feat, yet faithful to his nature he gave the stage with a double climb to Monte Grappa and Pianaro the prestige of a classic-monument. Tadej crossed the finish line 2’07” ahead of Valetin Paret Peintre and the best, including the brilliant Antonio Tiberi who finished the Giro 5th overall and 1st among the youngsters. In the twentieth stage Pogacar played cat and mouse. In Grappa’s first attack he let Pellizzari, Tonelli and Sanchez let off steam. The intrepid Pellizzari faced the crucial section of the second climb alone in the lead, but Tadej caught him and broke away 5 kilometers from the summit. Naturally, Tadej’s acceleration shattered the group of the best, creating difficulties especially for Geraint Thomas and O’Connor. Pogacar flew on arrival and Pellizzari was picked up by Paret Peintre and other VIPs.
THEMonte Grappa was a stadium with 100,000 spectators: «The noise – reveals Pogacar – prevented us UAE runners from hearing the advice via radio. I sprinted to take Pellizzari 6 kilometers from the summit of Grappa after I spoke with Majka and the others, the input didn’t come from the sports directors.” For the lone man in command, pedaling uphill in the narrow and dangerous corridor created by the crowd was difficult: certain gestures of sympathy such as pushing and running parallel to the athlete become dangerous. «A fan with a pink smoke bomb burned my hand. These are things not to do.” the Phenomenon points out. Pogacar doesn’t give his opponents gifts however he has a heart of gold. On the steep Pianaro ramp while he was already 2 minutes ahead of Martinez, Tiberi, Rubio and Pellizzari, a child asked him for a water bottle. He satisfied him. In the last kilometers Tadej increased his lead despite frequent smiles and gestures to the fans. Merckx, Hinault, Indurain and Contador have never done similar things even on the most magical days. Tadej wins the Giro with 9’56” over Daniel Martinez and rewrites history. To find a greater advantage over 2nd you have to go back to the 1965 Giro won by Adorni with 11’26” over Zilioli. «In this Giro I didn’t always have an easy life as many people think: for example after the Naples stage I had allergy problems». Yesterday Geraint Thomas turned 38. Instead of toasting, he had to think about getting Rubio, Martinez and Tiberi back, naturally while Pogacar was already unreachable. If Thomas and O’Connor hadn’t caught Tiberi, the Italian probably would have finished on the final podium. It didn’t happen, Geraint recovered on the Pianaro.
Today Thomas will climb to the 3rd step of the final podium near the Colosseum. It hadn’t happened since the 1928 Giro that a 38-year-old rider was on the podium. The last catwalk stage (125 km) in Rome is for sprinters, starting at 3.30 pm from Eur and arriving in via San Gregorio. In the finale, a 9.5 kilometer circuit will be repeated 8 times. Jonathan Milan and Tim Merlier want to win it. Pogacar tries to scare them: «My UAE Emirates will help Juan Molano to win». Unlike last year, Sergio Mattarella, President of the Republic, will be missing from the grand final awards ceremony. Too bad, Tadej (also winner of the Mountain Grand Prix) would have deserved his presence.
