BOLOGNA – When Pogacar and Vingegaard attacked, the leading group went up to 500 watts. As he tells it, Ciccone looks up as if to say that he had little to do about it. The Abruzzese spins his legs on the rollers in front of the Lidl-Trek bus and in the meantime tells. Until a few seconds ago he was confronted by Steven De Jongh, although it was mostly the Belgian diesse who spoke. Before asking him something, we observe him. At times he is thoughtfulin the heart of this season which saw him miss the Giro due to a cyst on his saddle and start the Tour late due to another Covid.
The order of arrival places it in fifteenth position, 2’42” from the winner Vauquelin and just 21” from Pogacar, Vingegaard and Evenepoel. All the other Tour leaders finished behind him: it wasn’t a bad day. And above all, in addition to his own performance, it allowed him to analyze the conduct of the top of the class.
“It was a very tough stage,” he says, “especially after yesterday’s day, which was demanding, between the heat and the route. Today’s finale was very lively, beautiful. The San Luca was a spectacle of people, truly exciting. But you have to be realistic on the level I have and following those two monsters was practically impossible. So I tried to manage with the strength I have and I will do so day by day. We are not discovering Pogacar and Vingegaard now, they have an extra gear and today they showed it on the San Luca».
Only from there?
The pace had been very high for a long time already. When you go at more than 500 Watts for a certain number of minutes, only great champions like them can make the difference. It was clear that Pogacar wanted to try something, otherwise you don’t send Yates forward like that. They were two really strange days, because with the heat the body adapts, the sensations change a lot and sometimes the performance is even distorted a little. So for example, if Roglic paid it is because he may have spent too much yesterdaybut it’s not necessarily a bad sign.
How hot was it today?
To tell the truth, today was much better than yesterday, less extreme. By doing fast climbs and thanks to the wind, we had better sensations. Yesterday, however, we all paid, because he was really muggy, he didn’t move the air, he couldn’t breathe.
Do you think the 4-5 days of training you missed due to Covid are affecting you?
I am sincere, in these first days I miss the brilliance, the change of pace. But I’m still satisfied because I want to live day by day, doing my best. The important thing is that I can maintain my level and be consistent. At these levels, as I have already said, really high power peaks are reached, so if you miss even 2 percent, you feel it and you pay for it. It fits, we are at the Tour de France and it is right that there is also this difference.
Today we expected UAE Emirates to attack, but instead they found themselves with Vingegaard on their backs again…
I have to say that on all the climbs there was a lot of nervousness. We are at the second stage of the Tour and we know that the first stages are increasingly nervous. We are also lucky that these days are hard, because the climb creates order and there is less risk than in the flat stages.
Did the people on San Luca give you an extra push to hold on?
It was something impressive. I have done the San Luca many times on different occasions: at the Emilia and at the Giro d’Italia, but Today my head was really exploding from screaming. I think it was one of the moments that I will definitely remember throughout my career.
