3rd stage and 3rd place: Lonardi on the podium in Orihuela, too

Yesterday he said it after leading the second-place-group in the second stage of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana: “Tomorrow will be another chance to seize…” and here we are celebrating Giovanni Lonardi’s third place in the third stage.

As expected, in Orihuela it was the sprint that decided the contest. The Team Polti Kometa chose not to go on the attack to stay all together to protect the veronese sprinter and their GC men: six riders went, who were caught only 1500 meters from the finish. There a crash reduced the peloton (also involving Mirco Maestri, fortunately without any consequences), leaving Lonardi without teammates: Giovanni did well to mark the wheel of the big favorite Jonathan Milan and clinch the podium behind Milan himself and Arne Marit.

“In that chaotic finale, I had to spend a lot to stay up front – Lonardi explained immediately after the race – and when I had to give my maximum effort to conclude the sprint, I was already at my limit. Anyway, I’m happy and I thank the team for doing well together. Tomorrow and Sunday we will work for Paul Double and Davide Piganzoli (who both gained a position, now they are 7th and 15th respectively ed).”

This is the sports director Stefano Zanatta‘s comment: “The boys raced together as always, we managed to give Lona a good hand for the finale and he achieved a prestigious result, behind two of the fastest riders present here at the Valenciana. Daily goal achieved, also because we protected the general classification of Double and Piganzoli. Morale and condition are good, we hope to continue this nice trend in tomorrow’s queen stage.”