Sensational Davide Piganzoli: ninth at the finish in Lago di Campo Moro
44ª Giro d´Italia U23
Stage 7: Sondrio – Lago di Campo Moro (119,4 km)
On roads familiar to him, a few dozen kilometres from his home, a formidable performance by the very young Davide Piganzoli on the ascent to Lago di Campo Moro. In one of the crucial stages of this Giro U23, on the day where he surpassed 2,000 metres of altitude after more than fifteen kilometres of climbing, the Italian rider of the U23 structure of the Foundation signed a remarkable ninth place, the second time for the team in the top-ten in this edition.
Piganzoli, his first year in the category, was one of the seven riders in the leader’s group in the last ten kilometres. The Italian, who has already shown his climbing skills this year in the Copa de España (Spanish Cup), managed to hold on for a few more kilometres, with the group reduced to a quintet, before leader Juan Ayuso launched an attack that was ultimately definitive to score another stage and reinforce his lead at the head of the general classification.
“It was a dream day for me, because I was on my own roads and there were a lot of people cheering me on. The truth is that I knew the first two climbs of the day well, but the final climb to Lago di Campo Moro is very long and I had never done it before. But today I had incredible legs. A very happy day, no doubt”, told Davide Piganzoli. “”We are a very young squad, maybe we don’t have the experience of other teams but we are having a good Giro d’Italia”.
Rafa Díaz Justo: “A short stage, very explosive, with a vertiginous finish in a pass that I found beautiful, with spectacular views, a lot of gallery, the nearby peaks full of snow… At the foot of the pass we arrived with a group of about forty riders with Davide Piganzoli, Fernando Tercero and Álex Martín. Fernando, who has just had a double crash and the body always suffers from these things, held on until the group was made up of about twenty riders, with nine kilometres to go. And Davide was a very pleasant surprise because the stage was very hard and he was always among the first seven/eight riders. In the end he is an 18 year old boy with an exciting future ahead of him”.
This Thursday, a new mountainous day with the ascent of the Passo del Tonale at the start, cold, a lot of downhill terrain afterwards, and a high finish in the town of Andalo. Davide Piganzoli starts the day in eleventh place overall, 8’01” behind leader Juan Ayuso.
[📷 Fabrizio Duca (1)]
[📷 @giroditaliau23 (2)]
