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Then, going down to the bus Bahrain Victorious, he refreshed himself by stopping to eat the kebabs prepared by the Abruzzo fans along the climb. But that was before that Antonio Tiberi it triggered ooohhhhs of wonder. The first, the only of Tour who dared to attack its immensity Tadej Pogacar.
«It was a bit of a particular situation, I had tried the Prati di Tivo climb in training but I had never done it in a race. I was amazed because despite the very high pace I felt very good. As for Pogacar, I expected his usual attack at the end, but when I saw that no one was moving I said to myself: this doesn’t suit me, I’ll try to shake up the situation. Also because I wanted to test the others, understand how they were doing, not so much Pogacar because I knew he wouldn’t worry. And then I wanted to test myself, it was a good feeling, I’m very happy.”
Pogacar had sweet words for Tiberi.
«They told me. I am happy and proud.”
And what do you say about him?
«What should I say, it’s obvious, he’s proving as always to be the champion he is. He surprised me yesterday when he went to sprint for Molano, he always puts on a show, he never disappoints the public.”
Bugno said that the future of Italian cycling can be born from you.
«This fills me with pride, it gets me excited, it gives me even more energy to spend on the bike. I see it positively, not as an extra burden, not as a pressure. Coming from Bugno, it makes me even more pleased, I hope I can continue to make people speak well of me.”
Are you still sad about Oropa’s misfortune?
«That’s how it went that day. Now the feeling is good, and the Giro is still long.”
Is this Giro your graduation exam?
«For now this is proving to be the case, it’s my first as captain, everything is new for me: the responsibilities you have to take on, the total concentration, the fact that you can never relax. Let’s see how the body will respond to all this stress for 21 days.”
Is there anything that surprised you?
«The good sensations I had already from the first days, in the Vuelta I had suffered enough to get into the rhythm, it’s true that I was coming from a small injury to my left achilles tendon, but here I got there well, everything went smoothly».
What do you expect from the second week?
«He inspires me quite a bit. Already tomorrow there is an important stage, which comes after the rest day, and there is always the risk that the body will relax, that the engine will have cooled down. And then there’s the last time trial, I’m very keen on it, I know that if everything goes well I’ll still be able to gain something on the other men in the ranking.”
From here to the end, what are the steps not to fail?
«The ones in which to be at the top are the time trial, the Livigno stage and the Bassano del Grappa stage. But the Marche stage should not be underestimated, with those tears that make it resemble a small Liège.”
Do you know Mortirolo?
«I only did it at the Giro Under and in training, but I know him a little. He’s very demanding, I like him.”
How is your friend Caruso?
«Damiano was quite unlucky in this first part of the Giro: two crashes, initially he was a bit affected, now he’s recovering, his morale is also growing, a few days and he too will want to have his say».
How are you?
«For now the sensations are very good, I’ve been growing, I hope to continue like this».
How do you spend your little free time?
«Actually it’s very little. I try to take advantage of every moment to recover or do something related to the Giro: study routes, have massages, do some therapy. In the last few days my family came and I spent some time with them. In the evening after dinner I lie down in bed to watch some films on Netflix.”
What did you see last night?
“A documentary. One of those classic American documentaries about mysterious things, UFOs, those things.”
Speaking of UFOs, what did you and Pogacar say to each other?
“I’ve never spoken to him, I haven’t had the chance to be close to him yet, he’s always on the front line.”
