Colombian exhibition in a Passo Maniva, before the Mortirolo, where Sergio García emerges
42º Giro d´Italia Giovani Under 23
Stage 5: Sorbolo Mezzani – Passo Maniva (158.3 km)
The Colombian cyclist applied to conquer this edition of the Giro Baby with an exhibition of his riders at the summit of Passo Maniva, where the race returned to the asphalt after a day of rest. The victory corresponded to the holder of the pink jersey Andrés Camilo Ardila (Colombian National Team), much more leader after his second consecutive success in the race, a victory of stage that materialized with more than one minute of advantage on two compatriots: Jesús David Peña (Colombian National Team), Einer Augusto Rubio (Aran Cucine). The Andalusian Sergio Garcia, 21º to 3:15, was the first of the riders of the Kometa Cycling Team in Maniva. A day of great differences.
“It has been a very hard stage from the beginning”, commented the guy from Cádiz. “Today the sensations were not as good as in previous stages, but we tried to save the day as best we could. Since the beginning we have ridden very, very fast. And with a lot of tension. It took a long time for the breakaway to take place. Once the port started it was a question of getting the best rhythm until the end. The Colombian riders have put together an impressive performance, right now they are in another league, a point higher than the rest”.
The arrival at Passo Maniva made good the assertion that speed is the main variable when it comes to increasing the inherent hardness of any ascent. And not by the end itself. The fifth stage was a madness from the real depart, before the one that already took place some crashes product of the tension that was palpable in the atmosphere. The design of the stage was not the most demanding, since the orographic difficulty was concentrated in the port that hosted the arrival. But until its beginning, many kilometers of flat terrain where the cyclists flew, largely supported by favorable winds. In the first hour an average of 49.1 km/h was marked. After three hours of competition, it was 45.450 km/h. And throughout his dispute, many cuts. Carlos Garcia was involved in a fall in the neutralized, without consequences, and also suffered a puncture at the height of km 90.
In the port, where the stage was led with just over a minute and a half eighteen of the twenty-one riders who ended up forming the leak, would arrive the South American exhibition incarnated by the pink jersey. Ardila’s attack quickly led him to the top of the stage, eight kilometres ahead. “From the tenth kilometre onwards I lost contact with the leader’s group, I searched for my rhythm and went all the way to the top”, sums up Edu Perez-Landaluce, at the finish line 40th at 5:51. Shortly before, the 38th at 5:16, Madrid’s Carlos García had crossed the finish line. Arturo Grávalos (69th) arrived at 10:20 and Colombian Jhon Stiven Ramírez (74th) at 11:31.
The Giro d’Italia u23 started its definitive phase and the second chapter, in which it can possibly be considered the queen stage, arrives this Thursday on less than 100 kilometers that add up to more than 2,700 meters of positive slope. A route with start and finish in Aprica that in its 94.3 kilometres proposes a double ascent to one of the most demanding mountain pass in the world: the Mortirolo. The alpine colossus will first face the Edolo slope and then climb it from Mazzo di Valtellina. A port that generates almost more illusions than fears among the guys of the under23 team of the Alberto Contador Foundation for the opportunity to face it in competition. “He plays the queen stage and the most famous”, smiles Sergio García, synthesising the opinion of his team mates. “We can’t stop thinking about those two ascents to Mortirolo”, agrees Edu Pérez-Landaluce. Sergio García (25º, 10:39) and Carlos García (28º, 11:31 from the pink maglia) arrive at the mythical Passo della Foppa as the best classified in the general classification.
(automatic translation, sorry for mistakes)
