At the start on the seafront in Martinsicuro, one directeur sportif winced playfully when asked if stage 12 of the Giro d’Italia would be a day for the GC contenders. “Every day is a GC day at the Giro, especially this year,” he said.
Tadej Pogačar’s presence has made it so. His fast start to this race, which saw him attack on each of the first three days, led some to wonder if he was intent on trying to win every stage in the race. “No comment,” he said in Fossano, where he had tried to upset the sprinters with a late acceleration.
Since then, Pogačar has gone on to amass a lead of 2:40 in the overall standings, and that hefty lead – or was it the entreaties of others in the peloton? – has convinced him to follow a slightly more conservative tack in the second week of the race.
Thursday’s stage up the Adriatic coast took in the kind of punchy terrain that has made Tirreno-Adriatico such a delight over the years, however, and the 20% muro on Monte Giove in the finale looked like the kind of invitation Pogačar would be simply unable to resist.
Instead, his UAE Team Emirates squad were content to give leeway to the break, with Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-QuickStep) claiming stage victory in Fano, and there were no real frissons in the pink jersey group, save for the sight of Bahrain Victorious taking it upon themselves to lead the way in the finale. That tactic was met with bemusement by Geraint Thomas, but Pogačar had no complaints.
“The plan today was to let the breakaway go, see who was inside and maybe just ride a pace we wanted to the finish,” Pogačar said as he made his way through the mixed zone. “And it was even better for us that Bahrain came to the front, so we didn’t need to spend energy today.
“I would not describe this as a surprise, but I was happy Bahrain came so we could rest a bit. I was happy that we could rest, and I was able to stay on the wheels. And the parcours was really nice. It was not boring, the time passed really fast.”
Pogačar laughed off the idea that he might have tried an acceleration on Monte Giove to test the wherewithal of Thomas et al. “You risk more than you can gain,” he said. “Let’s save the energy for this weekend, which is going to be a really nice weekend.”
“Nice” is one way of putting it, but the rest of the Giro gruppo might not view it in quite the same way. After a likely bunch sprint in Cento on Friday, the Giro faces an arduous 48 hours, with the 31km time trial to Desenzano del Garda followed by the mammoth mountain stage to Livigno, which takes in some 5,300m of climbing, including the Colle San Zeno, the Mortirolo and the haul to the finish.
“The Livigno stage is a monstrous stage, so we can expect big gaps on that stage, especially if the weather comes into play,” Pogačar said. “It will be one of the hardest stages we’ve ever done. It’s going to be a tough one, but we are ready.”
During the rest day in Naples, Pogačar had indicated that the Livigno stage would be the most demanding day he had ever spent on a bike.
“I think so,” Pogačar said on Thursday. “I mean, at least based on the distance and the elevation, I think it’s one of the hardest, but that doesn’t mean anything by itself. I’m looking forward to a hard stage to Livigno, I know the roads really well. But let’s survive another the next days first."
The stage to Cento ought to be straightforward, and Pogačar will set out with confidence, too, in the time trial on the shores of Lake Garda on Saturday. Based on his mastery of the discipline in Perugia last week, albeit on a hillier course, Pogačar will surely expect to add to his overall lead even before the tappone to Livigno.
“It’s pancake flat, and normally I don’t do well on pancake flat time trials, but we’ll give it a go," Pogačar said. “I’ll give it a go, but maybe I need to ride ‘around’ 100%, because the next day is also really hard. On Saturday, I’ll need to set a good tempo from the beginning and then see the gaps the opponents.”
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