Strade Bianche: applause for Rivi in our WorldTour debut
15° Strade Bianche
Siena-Siena (184 km)
Cycling is this: capable of skilfully mixing beauty and fatigue, capable of filling the eyes and devastating the muscles. And perhaps few races marry this concept better than the Strade Bianche: a race that lives in the breathtaking scenery of the Tuscan lands, between the hills of Montalcino and the Crete Senesi to close in Piazza del Campo di Siena. Race that puts a strain on the legs of riders with its 11 dirt tracks that give the race its name and that pull razors on the muscles of those who ride.
For us at EOLO-KOMETA it was an important debut: the first time in a WorldTour race, in the presence of the giants of this sport and immersed in a show that until last year we could only watch on television. And for this debut, the goal was clear: to fight, to try to get into some break. Objective achieved by our Samuele Rivi, who left with a group of 8 riders and was able to reach an advantage of 4 ‘: then the effort, then the claimants to victory who began to lead the dance, then a mechanical problem that came at the worst moment. Anyway, applause for him, and applause for all his teammates who were able to honor one of the most spectacular races on the calendar.
Yes, because the show really was not lacking: with the dutch Mathieu Van der Poel able to reach the finish line in Piazza del Campo alone after a sprint on the last climb of Santa Caterina that allowed him to break away from world champion Alaphilippe (second at 5 ”) and Egan Bernal (third at 20 ”).
Samuele Rivi: “A tough race, it was not at all easy to go on a break, not too comfortable on the dirt road, but I always tried to give everything. Unfortunately then I had a mechanical problem that forced me to change a few bicycles, and this put an end to my race “
Arturo Grávalos: “We enjoyed ourselves like little kids, but the day was really hard. It was very hard to make a breakaway. First Diego was in front, but they caught him and then Samuele managed to catch him. It was going at a thousand kilometres per hour the whole race. But we enjoyed it, and we’ve gained experience that will come in handy”.
Sergio García: “Personally it was very hard, because I couldn’t find the rhythm from the start, but as an experience, against many of the greatest riders in the world, it was a great day. It was very fast all day long, the pace was brutal on the hard sections. I’m sure a day like this will help us in the future”.
Diego Pablo Sevilla: “We can already say that we know the Strade Bianche and we know first-hand how hard, how really hard this race is. It has been a great experience and now I hope to come back in the future to have the opportunity to do it better”.
[ PhotoGomezSport]
