TOUR DE FRANCE | 30/06/2024 | 18:18
by Giulia DeMaio
Giulio Ciccone arrives at the finish line in Bologna hot but happy. The fans surround the Lidl Trek bus, there is a group of boys from Abruzzo who make him smile with their choirs, his wife Anna Bruna watches him from a distance while on the rollers he tries to cool down his muscles after the double climb to San Luca and answers our questions.
From the outside it was a tough stage, made even tougher by the heat.
«Yes, it was very demanding, especially after yesterday when there wasn’t a breath of air and the heat put us to the test. The ending was eventful and beautiful. San Luca was a spectacle of people, it was truly exciting and impressive. I have climbed this climb on several occasions, at Emilia, at the Giro d’Italia, but today my head was truly bursting from the screams of the fans. I will certainly remember these moments among the strongest of my career.”
Pogacar and Vingegaard immediately proved explosive. What sensations are you experiencing?
«You have to be realistic about the level I have, for me following the two monsters fighting for the yellow jersey today was practically impossible but I tried to manage myself as best I could and I will do so day by day. They have an edge and today they demonstrated it once again because on the San Luca the pace had already been very high for a long time. When you go at more than 500 watts for a certain number of minutes, only great champions like them can make a difference.”
Did you expect Roglic to pay on a climb that has seen him excel at both the Giro and the Emilia on several occasions?
“These first days of the Tour have been really strange because with the heat the body suffers, the sensations change a lot and sometimes the performance is even distorted a bit. I wouldn’t take it as a bad sign, maybe tomorrow he’ll be better and then his time will come.”
Are you paying for the 4-5 days without training that covid forced you into?
“I’ll be honest, in these first days I’m missing the brilliance, that change of pace that is needed in short bursts, but I’m still satisfied because I’m maintaining my level and the consistency of performance. In the accelerations I suffer a bit because you reach really high peaks of power, so if you’re missing even 2% at these paces you feel it and pay for it. We’re at the Tour de France…”.
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