TOUR OF ITALY | 04/05/2024 | 6pm
by Claudio Ghisalberti
Two friends chatting, comparing notes, discussing. Two friends who share a bad temper (they are a bit critical, unconventional, sometimes polemical) but also some great passions. One of these is cycling and, specifically, they love the Giro d’Italia. One of the two pedals and is curiouswould like to better understand this sport and its dynamics. So he asks the other who was a great champion, the strongest sprinter of all time and in his palmares he has – records – 42 stages won in the Corsa Rosa. When he ran they called him the Lion King. And now that he is 57 years old, he continues to train, study cycling, experiment. Restless as a feline, always seeking perfection. But him he also has a very clear and very acute vision of what happens in the race. He sees and understands what many do not see or understand. Their ideas born in the heat of the moment, as soon as the stage was over, they thus become “The paw”, a daily appointment where Mario Cipollini will analyze in a scathing way what happened during the stage.
So Mario, what do you think of this opening stage?
«That the UAE has liquefied and that Pogacar has been disappointed. He seemed to have everything planned for his victory but it didn’t go as they hoped. They didn’t get the results they wanted. And the Slovenian’s open-mouthed gesture at the finish line says a lot about her disappointment. Perhaps as a team they exaggerated and on the Maddalena they found themselves with only Majka. The “paw” today goes to them. Of course they did a strong climb anyway, in my opinion with a Vam of 1,700/1,800. Now we need to understand if it was a bad day or the consequence of particular preparation. Pogacar perhaps wasn’t at 100 percent today if Narvaez was close behind him on the climb. Maybe he needs a few days to find his best leg again.”
Speaking of Narvaez, national champion of Ecuador: do you think he could worry the Slovenian in the general? Because a rival to Tadej must also be found.
“But no, I don’t think so.”
Bardet paid today: can he still have ranking ambitions in this Giro?
«I wasn’t sure he could aim for the podium before, I don’t rule it out now. A 15′ climb on the first stage doesn’t tell who can make the ranking. Maybe the Frenchman, who has been going strong so far this season, went slowly today because maybe he just had a bad day, he was a bit swamped. But getting to Rome is long. But a long time. However, this was an atypical stage.”
Tomorrow we arrive uphill to the Sanctuary of Oropa: what do you think happens?
«Which will be a completely different reality than today. The UAE will return in the best possible way.”
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