Marco Frigo equalled his best Grand Tour result on Friday as he finished second at Cerler, the highest ski resort in the Aragonese Pyrenees, on stage 7 of La Vuelta a España
Frigo previously missed out on the victory in Yunquera during last year’s Vuelta, although this time around he was closer to the win, finishing 1:15 behind Juan Ayuso (UAD) after a stage that featured over 4,200 meters of climbing and was raced at an average speed of 38.9kph.
Ayuso instigated the break by going solo on the day’s first climb, the category 1 Port del Cantó, before Frigo was helped into a chase group that bridged across to the Spaniard by teammate Jan Hirt.
“In the end, it’s another second place in a Grand Tour stage,” says Frigo. “I think it was the hardest start of my career. But I got myself in the breakaway because of my legs. Once we were in the break, it was a really good group to be in, we worked really well.”
The 25-year-old followed Ayuso when he attacked on the 12.1-kilometer climb to the finish, before losing contact with the stage winner with 9.5 kilometers remaining
Raúl García Pierna (ARK) managed to ride across to Frigo before the IPT rider dropped him near the summit.
Frigo adds: “We knew this last climb was super hard – I tried not to overthink it. When Ayuso went, I had the legs to follow, and then it became too much for me.
“Ayuso was the strongest climber in the breakaway, we knew that. When Garcia came back, he helped me a lot. He did a good pace, I could rest a bit in the wheel and then I did the last 3km full.
“It’s already my third podium in a Grand Tour stage – but every time there was somebody stronger.”
Teammate Matthew Riccitello delivered another strong performance, finishing with the GC contenders for the second day running.
Riccitello crossed the line 18th and remains second overall in the youth classification, just 27 seconds behind leader Giulio Pellizzari.