“Veni, vidi, vici e me ne andai”: Julius Caesar in Gorilla version, this is the André Greipel who triumphs for the third time in this Giro at the finish line in Bibione – beating Caleb Ewan and Giacomo Nizzolo with ridiculous ease – and then he runs to the hotel to pack his bags. Auf Wiedersehen, thanks for everything, but the big German has to get ready for the Tour. He can't go there with dead batteries and legs intoxicated from the efforts of climbing the Alps. As a guest star, the Gorilla, this is Greipel's nickname, he recites until after all, his part: here he is on the stage, bursting with joy celebrating the hat-trick, his sixth career victory in the Giro.
He receives a double kiss from the misses as stage winner and as leader of the points classification in the red jersey. But he hates the air of the Dolomites and the giant from Rostock, allergic like all great sprinters to slopes, no longer feels like sweating in the rear of the group, like any Malabrocca. He says hello to the caravan, leaving Nizzolo the red jersey which he probably could have carried all the way to Turin given the advantage in points accumulated.
A retreat that was already talked about in Asolo, confirmed yesterday morning even before setting off from Noale for the flattest stage of the Giro, the ideal stage in which the German was able to exhibit his know-how for the last time: absolute power and innate ability to find the right trajectories to place his deadly sprint. A show and immediately after a farewell that leaves a bad taste in the mouth of those who love cycling in the past, when for everyone finishing the Giro was an honor even before an obligation. But those were different times: today it is more and more specialized cycling.
There is the cyclist born for Roubaix and Flanders (this is the case of Tom Boonem who built his glory on the cobblestones and walls of the North); there is the athlete who races to win only the Tour (a name above all, Chris Froome not to mention the disqualified Lance Armstrong); there is the almost unbeatable man on the time trial (eg Tony Martin). Kittel and Greipel are two champions of the sprints. They can't do anything else. Certainly reprehensible gesture but their withdrawal without a valid reason is no longer surprising. It's almost obvious. Doing the Giro to train for the Tour or the world championship in Qatar is not a crime.
Especially since from today we begin to face the real mountains. Greipel and Kittel would have been pale extras trudging up the hairpin bends of the Dolomites. Now that the going gets tough, make way for the tough. Nibali and Valverde can no longer hide. For Jungels always in the pink jersey and the outsiders who still crowd the top ten of the classification unchanged yesterday (from Amador to Zakarin and Krujiswjick) the days of truth have arrived. The Giro anticipates fiery stages, ideal for immediately forgetting the unpleasant gesture of a German Gorilla.
