Like Kittel and Greipel, Diego Ulissi also took his second success in this Giro at the finish line in Asolo, the sixth in the pink races disputed so far. Unlike Kittel who has already packed his bags and Greipel who is rumored to be thinking of doing them after today's stage in Bibione, who sees him as the great favourite, Ulissi has since yesterday returned to the top ten of the Giro, determined to race it giving the better until Turin, proving that the Lampre Merida rider from Livorno is something more than a rider to be feared only in one-day races.
In Praia a Mare it was a meditated solo and achieved with a shot on the ramps of the Fortino, yesterday another masterpiece packaged in a three-man sprint ahead of Andrey Amador and the pink jersey, Bob Jungels, two characters who on the eve of the Giro were out of every prediction but that stage after stage they are gaining more and more credit.
In the excited final stages, after the short but difficult ramps of the Picco di Mostaccin and the subsequent descent, it seemed that the race was totally in the hands of Nibali and Valverde but a push from Amador – probably suggested by the Movistar flagship – ended up messing up the plans of the Shark – who in Asolo had won his first stage in the Giro in 2010 – but also of Valverde because only the Jungels pink jersey was chasing Amador and he did it with the surprising authority of a consummate champion.
Only Ulissi managed to catch the two fugitives on the last small stretch 4 km from the finish and then beat them in the sprint. Nibali and Valverde are there but arrive 13” later. On balance between bonus and advantage Jungels strengthens his advantage over Valverde, Nibali and Krujiswijk by another 17” while for Amador the overall gain is 19”, gnawing thanks to the bonus for second even two seconds off Jungels. Now Valverde is still third at 1'07” on the same time as the fourth Krujiswjik while Nibali is fifth at 1'09”.
Jungels is confirmed as the new character of this Giro, with a palmares still empty due to his young age, but with the ability to dominate any type of route and race without ever disuniting. Jungels and his exuberance are expected at the test in the Dolomites. Only then will we understand if he really is an athlete capable of breaking the bank.
Amador, on the other hand, is an old acquaintance of the Giro, where he revealed himself in 2012 by winning the Cervinia stage, the one in which Rodriguez, missing the lunge, began to lose the Giro from Hesjedal. He is in his fifth presence in the pink race where his best finish was last year, fourth just a step away from the podium formed by Contador, Aru and Landa. On paper, in the Movistar strategy, he is at Valverde's service but the Spanish champion has repeatedly repeated that Amador too can win the Giro.
Meanwhile in the Giro, which has not yet identified its master, the farewells are multiplying. After that of Landa who blew up every successful plan of Team Sky, yesterday it was the turn of Tom Dumoulin's withdrawal who leaves the race after the fireworks of the first week during which in the pink jersey he looked like an authentic force of the nature.
But the Dutch have already found, stage after stage, another less flashy tulip than Dumoulin but perhaps more suited than Tom to bear the hardships of a three-week stage race. It's Steven Krujswijick, who at the dawn of his thirtieth birthday is racing his best Giro of the six so far, aiming to improve on the 7th place obtained last year.
