The Dolomite mountains’ fiery hues are one of the natural phenomena unique to northern Italy, and on Wednesday their majesty was in full view on the 17th stage of Giro 107 between Selva di Val Gardena and Passo Brocon.
Bahrain Victorious’ leader Antonio Tiberi once again displayed his strength and talent as he crossed the line third, behind breakaway winner Georg Steinhauser (EFE), and world #1 & GC leader Tadej Pogačar (UAD).
“I’m super happy about today, which was tough right from the start with the climb and the rain all day making everyone pretty nervous. But I really enjoyed the stage, and my legs are feeling good even though it’s the 3rd week.”
Deep in the heart of Italy’s northernmost region of Trentino-Alto Adige, the race took in five Dolomite passes, including the Passo Sella (which at 2244m was the highest point of the Giro – the ‘Cima Coppi’), and the summit finish at Passo Brocon.
A small break formed immediately on the Sella, which had started from kilometre zero, and included Steinhauser, a 22 year old German who before today had never won a professional race! Bahrain road captain Damiano Caruso joined the group later, but their gap hardly went over three minutes, and by the time the leader reached the bottom of the final ascent, he rode alone until the line.
Behind, the ‘Maglia Rosa’ group had been reduced to the very best, and continued to thin out as Ben O’Connor (DAT, 4th overall), Caruso, Arensman (IGD, 6th) and others struggled to hold on. Meanwhile, when Pogačar attacked as he always does, Tiberi sensed an opportunity to put time into his rivals, and took to the front of the chasing pack. While he couldn’t catch the champion elect, he reduced the gap to O’Connor on GC to 42”, while increasing his lead over Arensman in the Young Riders’ classification to 41”.
More than the stats and numbers, what Tiberi did today was to show again that he is the rider behind Tadej who has the legs and the boldness to not just follow the Slovenian, but to race. The next four days will test both his resolve and the wisdom of that strategy, but thus far he is capturing the hearts and imaginations of the public watching on the roadsides and the TV.
“I was waiting for the last climb to try to do something, and at the moment Tadej attacked I tried to follow but the pace was too much. I saw O’Connor was struggling so wanted to get a few seconds on him and Arensman who had also lost the wheels. I tried 3 or 4 times to attack, and I managed to keep a good tempo in the last 500/600m before the final sprint, so I am more than satisfied with taking 3rd place and some bonus seconds.”
There are no serious climbs tomorrow, and stage 19 shouldn’t be hard enough to make a difference in the overall classifications. With Sunday a flat ride around Rome, stage 20 is what Tiberi will be focussed on as he tries to become the first Italian to win the White Jersey since Fabio Aru in 2015.
