In the rain and hail EOLO-KOMETA loses Belletti and finds Fortunato

Giro d’Italia 2021
Stage 6: Grotte di Frasassi – Ascoli Piceno (160 km)

There are bittersweet stages, able to give both bad news and good news: today’s stage was one of those. The bad news arrived about 90 km from the end: another crash, after the one two days ago and the one three weeks ago in Turkey, and Manuel Belletti was forced to raise the white flag and abandon the Giro. It’s a pity, really: because yesterday Manuel had shown he was there (in the top ten in the sprint in Cattolica), because this was his last Giro d’Italia, because the guy wanted to repay the trust of the team. A pity, really, and a wish for a speedy recovery: Manuel, we are waiting for you.

Then the stage went on: rain, cold, hail and the Ineos of Bernal that put everyone to the whip. In the end the winner was Gino Mader, while the pink jersey went to the young Hungarian Attila Valter (a great friend of our Dina’s, and you should have seen the happiness with which Marton reacted to the news). And here comes the good news for Eolo-Kometa: Lorenzo Fortunato was with the best until the end, and finished 21st at 1’12” from the winner. Really good our Lorenzo, who is proving to have a great leg and that he wants to leave his mark on this Giro.

After today’s efforts, tomorrow will be a flat stage for the sprinters: it would have been great to have our Belletti, of course. But that’s cycling, folks…

Lorenzo Fortunato: “To say that I’m happy is an understatement: happy, and also a bit surprised because I did not expect to go so well. I was pedalling, I was looking around, and next to me there was Yates… I’m doing well, that’s for sure: I understood it in Asturia and these first days of Giro are confirming it. Obviously it’s no use making proclamations, but it’s certain that our goal is to make our mark by winning a stage. And believe me, we’ll do everything we can to achieve that.

[   PhotoGomezSport]