‘Anger gave me even more grinta’ – Giulio Ciccone frustrated by mountains points spat as he misses out on stage win yet again at Giro d’Italia

Lidl-Trek’s Giulio Ciccone tried and was denied once again to win a Giro d’Italia stage on stage 19, spending a long time in a strong break and going solo onto the final climb, only to be caught and passed by stage winner Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) in the final three kilometres.

Ciccone wore the pink jersey early in this Giro, but has yet to win a stage outright, coming close similarly on stage 9 when he was caught with 1.7km to go on the Corno alle Scale. He’s been in multiple breakaways on stages 14, 16 and 17, and other times stopped from even going in the break.

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Over the top of the climb, Ciccone was gesturing and shouting at the Movistar rider, who shrugged in response, and then also remonstrated with the camera motorbike. It was this anger that prompted his attack to go solo on the descent, though even fueled by irritation, he ultimately failed to grab the stage win.

Speaking in Italian at the finish, Ciccone referred to a move by a “piccolo corridore” – literally a ‘small rider’ but also the term for a junior rider.

Rubio suggested after the stage that he had agreed with Lidl-Trek – who also had Derek Gee-West in the break – that he could win the Red Bull KM and they would take the KoM sprints, but after Gee-West beat Rubio to the Red Bull sprint, the Movistar rider decided to challenge them because they “didn’t keep their word”.

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“It’s about respect, and I don’t think he was very respectful today,” Ciccone told reports after the stage in Italian. “[Rubio] got angry perhaps because he wanted the Red Bull KM time bonuses but that was a matter for the GC riders.

“It was nothing to do with me but he blamed me. I trusted him at the KOM sprint but he showed he showed a lack of class.

“It was a stage for whoever had the legs. The attack broke up on the first climb. I raced for the KOM jersey, that was my big goal. I was lucky that some guys gave me a hand, like Giulio Pellizzari and Alberto Bettiol.

“I didn’t want to get upset about what Rubio did but I just didn’t expect that to happen and didn’t understand it.

“I knew I could have gained time on the descent but anger gave me even more ‘grinta’ to dive into the corners.”

Regarding missing out on the stage win, Ciccone seemed much less frustrated with that loss than the mountains points situation.

“I tried to win in the downhill. I know I can do a good downhill. I went super fast, especially the first part, and then when I arrived in the valley I realised that I had to push a lot to keep the keep the gap,” he said.

“So when I took the climb, I tried to set my tempo, but it was not easy, because from the back they were close. So I knew it in my head, I was ready to be like this [caught].”

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