We are now halfway through Tour of Italy. The Corsa Rosa is about to enter its hottest phase but we can begin to draw the first conclusions. We did it together with Stefano Garzelli, winner of a Giro d’Italia in 2000 and technical voice of Rai Sport, whom we thank for his availability.
Let’s start immediately with a provocative question: do you want to see that Tadej Pogacar’s main opponent at the moment is the virus circulating in the group? Jokes aside, at the moment there don’t seem to be any rivals…
“Clearly he is the favourite, he was before and he confirmed it even better than expected. It’s definitely hard to beat, almost impossible. But we know that anything can happen in the big leagues, there’s a lot missing. For example, yesterday in the sprint he risked falling, he must be good at knowing how to say no and slip away, he took big risks. Pogacar’s biggest opponent is himself: the days of crisis can come, he has an important advantage, pay attention to today which is a difficult day but then Saturday and Sunday he has two days where he will almost want to close the Giro issue, the time trial and the Livigno stage”.
The only one who tried to take matters into his own hands was Antonio Tiberi: can he aim for the podium in this Giro?
“Let’s get things in order, if Bahrain shot at Bocca della Selva it was to reduce the margin over Bardet, who was starting to worry. Antonio is racing very well, but as mentioned previously he needs to be more calm. At the moment it is not possible to attack Pogacar, and everyone knows it, when he does it, the others look the other way. You have to try to find the right stage, the right moment, and I’m not saying it isn’t there. And I believe that the Livigno stage could be the right opportunity to go head-on with the Slovenian. Take for example Ineos, who have Arensman in the top 10 and not too far away, why not move him to the Mortirolo. Tiberi is racing well, without the puncture he would even be second, but he has to be careful, he made a couple of attacks on Tuesday, but lost four seconds, he has to be morally careful. Also because in the last week the gaps are no longer seconds, but minutes and you have to understand what your stages are. And then everyone fears the Livigno stage, a delicate day.”
And in the future, do you think he could be a possible Grand Tour winner?
“We’re talking about a young guy, born in 2001, we’re starting to think about the top 5 of this Giro d’Italia and how he can keep up in the last week. But he has all the characteristics of a stage racer: he is strong both in time trials and uphill, last year at the Vuelta he was very strong in the third week. The physical and mental traits are all there, perhaps the only problem is that he was born into a generation of phenomena. A little unfortunate in being contemporary with Pogacar, Vingegaard, Evenepoel, Rodriguez and Ayuso, but he’s there too. Ultimately I think we’ve found a good stage racer.”
In the meantime, however, he is not the only one in this Giro: Zana and Fortunato were protagonists in this first part. The second had taken the honors of Astana captain on the field from a solid man like Lutsenko.
“I’ll tell you, in my opinion he already had them from the start and I even told him so. Someone who comes fourth in Oropa means he’s doing well. He has prepared the Giro in a painstaking way, and I expect him to really be able to make the rankings.”
Two other Italians who were expected at the gate were Giulio Pellizzari and Davide Piganzoli, who did not shine. Did you expect more?
“Maybe I would have expected a little more, a little more protagonism. They finished second and third at the Avenir behind Isaac Del Toro last year, and the Mexican is already having a top season at UAE Team Emirates. I’m not telling you that I expected them to be in the top 10 or to constantly fight for stage victories, but a little more, yes. But we don’t know if they have had physical problems due to the virus, they also have to learn to run at certain levels. Piganzoli made a mistake in attacking in the stage won by Pelayo Sanchez. But the Giro is long, they will be able to be protagonists, perhaps with a nice escape.”
Sprint question: Jonathan Milan is the strongest sprinter.
“I agree. If for the overall the level, apart from Pogacar, is not very high, for the sprinters there are the best in the world, apart from Jasper Philipsen. And he is proving to be the strongest and still has to grow, he has excellent room for improvement. For example, he is improving in the composure of the sprint pedaling: he moves a lot and a style is difficult to change, I talked about it together with Petacchi, but he is young and I saw him improved compared to 2023, where perhaps he was pushing gears that were too agile in sprint. But when he corrects these details there will be big, big problems for his opponents.”
Is there anyone who you think performed below expectations?
“I would not say. A very beautiful Giro, tight and competitive from the first kilometre, which leaves no room for boredom. There is indeed an absolute dominator, but it is a great Giro, given how the various riders are racing it and facing it.”
So, to close: can the time trial and Livigno decide a good part of the Giro on Sunday?
“Good part. But not all of it: there’s a very interesting week left with lots of climbs, anything can always happen, hoping that the weather is kind.”
