Giulio Ciccone managed to conquer Cogne and take the stage 15 victory of Giro d’Italia. His final sprint on the bike launched aggressively that left the other rivals licking their wounds instead of following in Ciccone. It was surely an amazing day for both Team Trek-Segafredo and Ciccone.
Surrounded with severe competition from Hugh Carthy (EF Education-EasyPost) and Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious), the young blood launched a decisive attack with 18km to go which resulted in his victory. Thanks to his tactics, he was able to win this race stage.
After three years of grief and personal disappointment, this was his reward, Ciccone finally got the breakthrough win he needed. After the race, he expressed his happiness and how much this win means to him.
The steep part of the climb was at the beginning, in my mind I say, ‘OK, if I go alone here I can arrive alone. Otherwise, with two of three riders, you never know what can happen. I tried here today because my legs were really good. It was the best choice that I made.
Richard Carapaz also gave an amazing performance, despite the fact that he crashed in the start of the stage, he managed to finish and retained the leader’s pink jersey. As of right now, Carapaz is leading the Maglia Rosa competition. He is ahead of both Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) by seven seconds and João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) by 30 seconds.
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How It Went Down
The stage 15 of Giro d’Italia was everything but easy, although it witnessed a very boring start, it quickly picked up the pace. Specifically, the whole situation became aggressive after the 4.6km neutral section. Seeing the perfect chance, Matthew Holmes from Lotto Soudal went on the offensive with the Peloton and was then chased by Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ). This move was more than enough to give a wake up call to the Peloton.
A lot of riders tried to get away from the attacks now coming in from all the directions but that did not work well. Cyclists like Alessandro Covi (UAE Team Emirates), Harm Vanhoucke (Lotto Soudal) and Clément Davy (Groupama-FDJ) tried making a jump to get away but that too failed.
The last two weeks of riding left a heavy toll on everyone and that could be seen easily. Eventual winner, Ciccone pushed almost everyone to make a breakthrough but that also seemed difficult at first. Despite his best efforts to keep the other rivals away from him, others still caught up to him. With everything happening, Ciccone did not give up, he attacked again at 20km to go and in the end it was a duel between Ciccone and Carthy.
When the distance closed down to 18km to go, Ciccone attacked again and this time with ferocious tenacity that Carthy could not keep up. This allowed Ciccone to make it to the finish line with such strength that others could only see him in action, but not even come close to him. The Italian gave everyone one amazing show that will not be forgotten anytime soon!
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Also Read: Romain Bardet Pulls Out Of Giro D’Italia Following Illness
Featured Image Via YouTube/Cycling Pro Net
