Lorenzo Fortunato finishes eighth in the Giro di Sicilia after a brilliant final stage for Fortu and also Ravasi
25° Giro di Sicilia
Stage 4: Sant’Agata di Militello – Mascali (180 km)
In a queen stage where the overall is decided, the strongest men are always involved. This Friday the 2021st edition of the Giro di Sicilia came to an end and Lorenzo Fortunato proved that his great season is no coincidence. The rider from Castell de Britti has taken a step forward, a qualitative leap, and on the slopes of Etna he stayed in the fight for a race that finally went to Sicilian Vincenzo Nbali. Lorenzo, eighth at the finish in Mascali, also finished eighth in the final classification.
Until the fight for the overall came to the forefront, the protagonist of the day was an illustrious breakaway of seven riders where Chris Froome was and where, giving presence to the EOLO-KOMETA Cycling Team, Edward Ravasi from Varese was. A nice performance for Eddy, who joined the breakaway from the bunch, led the way on the long climb to Portella Mandrazzi and was among the strongest of the breakaway. Earlier in the day, Vincenzo Albanese had been the most active in pursuit of the breakaway. An eleven-member breakaway was more fleeting.
But Movistar Team and UAE Team kept a very lively pace in the peloton and ended up approaching the leading group definitively at the beginning of the climb to Sciara di Scorciavacca. Before the neutralisation, Ravasi had tried it alone, but the time margin was very small. With the chase, a new race. A great selection in the bunch left the important men in the vanguard. Vincenzo Nibali went on the attack with 22 kilometres to go, six to go, and managed a few seconds on the climb, where Lorenzo Fortunato took second place just over half a minute back. On the descent Nibali consolidated his lead and behind him there was a regrouping of the important men in the race, including Fortunato.
“I’m happy with the race. Today was a hard stage, but I had good legs, I felt good. I have the regret of not having been with Nibali when he started, but in general terms I’m happy, especially in view of the next races ahead of us”, said Lorenzo Fortunato about his participation in the Sicilian roads.
“Today was the first day that I got up and felt good. In the two previous stages I had some stomach problems, so I focused on giving my all to help my team-mates. Today was different. I wanted to be at the front. After 70 kilometres of stage we were finally able to form a breakaway, but in the move there were riders well placed in the general classification and for Movistar it was not possible to give any margin. We made it to the last climb, and there I tried to go solo, but it was already difficult. I’m happy with the team’s performance and also with my form. We will continue to fight in the next home races”, explains Edward Ravasi.
[ PhotoGomezSport (1, 3), La Presse (2), Maurizio Borserini (4)]
