Australian looking for opportunities in a mountainous final week
Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) enters the final week of the Giro d’Italia in second place overall, just one minute and 26 seconds behind Maglia Rosa Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) and declares his intention to keep on fighting to the end. Of the six remaining stages, three feature mountaintop finishes, beginning with the stage 18 time trial from Mori to Polsa on Thursday.
The following stage will climb both the Passo Gavia and Passo dello Stelvio on the way to Via Martello, while Saturday’s penultimate stage will scale four mountain passes – including the Passo Giau – on the way to the mythical climb to the Tre Cime di Lavaredo above Cortina d’Ampezzo. These stages give Evans plenty of opportunities to attack Nibali, but also for Nibali to go on the offensive himself.
“To be here now second overall on GC is not so bad,” Evans told a rest day press conference, as he referred to his late decision to ride this year’s Giro. “Me being the somewhat ambitious rider that I am, I say it’s not impossible to win. So I’ll be a bit greedy there and ask more of myself.”
So far in the race Nibali has taken time out of Evans in both the team and individual time trials, as well as the steep, rainy finish at Bardonecchia, while both riders have exchanged blows in the fight for time bonuses at stage finishes – with Nibali coming out on to there too, but 24 seconds to 12. For Evans to overturn his 1’26” deficit, the Australian must find a way of beating, not only Nibali, but also his team.
“I see a very good Astana, but a very, very good Nibali, who has been able to cover everything that’s been thrown at him so far,” said Evans. “This Giro, compared to the dozen or so other grand tours I have done, really has been a test of teams, of concentration, of bike handling abilities, of physical abilities, of climbing, of being on the flats, being in the crosswind, being in the heat, being in the cold, the team time trial – everything has been such a test on everyone and everything involved in the race.
“It’s been interesting to say the least,” he added. “But here we are with a week to go and there are a few more opportunities to go. We’ll see where we go from here.”