93rd Giro d'Italia - Stage 7
After Race Interviews
Vino, Evans, Cunego, Pozzato, Nibali & Basso comment
on the day and its consequences - "It was a difficult day, now we'll start
planning the race in a different way, but the Giro is still open."
© 210
Gazzetta dello Sport
2010 Giro d'Italia
Jersey Leaders - After Stage 7
Maglia Rosa: Alexander Vinokourov
Points: Tyler Farrar
Garmin/Transitions
KOM: Matthew Lloyd Omega Pharma/Lotto
U26: Richie
Porte Saxo Bank
Team: Saxo Bank
Stage 7 Report
Cadel Evans: "Today's was a truly
spectacular leg, it was something one just can't describe. The team prepared
well for this stage, and I think all the work we've done makes us deserved
winners. I'm very happy for myself but also for the whole squad. This is a
pretty important step in my Giro d'Italia bid, but let's wait and see what comes
next; hilly stages that suit other teams better than mine are going to come
later in the race. Sure this one was more appropriate for me, I was a high-level
MTB rider for seven years, and what I learned in that period was much of use to
me today."
Cadel Evans Photo © 2010 Fotoreporter
Sirotti
"Everything went fine. I was lucky to avoid falling in the piece prior to the
start of the unpaved section. Late in the stage I think I made the difference
more in the cobbled portion in the middle of the town than in the very last
uphill piece. Tomorrow's stage is another test for those seriously aiming at
winning the race, as much of a significant test as it was today's, but even
harder stages are yet to come."
Alexandre Vinokourov: "I realized right
from the fast start that this was going to be a hard stage, and today's last 40
kilometers were even more difficult than Paris-Roubaix. I noticed that some
riders had fallen but did not realize that Nibali was amongst them. At first we
wanted to wait for them, to understand what was going on, but in the last 20-30
kilometers it was difficult for us to keep waiting in a situation like that."
"I wanted to make the ride hard today, but getting the jersey back wasn't my
goal. Courses like can be good in one-day events like P-R, but are not
appropriate for three-week races like the Giro. I haven't thought about what
kind of lead I'd like to have when we hit the last week, at the moment I just
think about tomorrow's stage, which is going to be a tough one too, and someone
can have a bad day and bonk."
Filippo Pozzato: "Earlier I thought that
this stage was good for my skills, but it turned out to be harder than I
expected. It turned out to be one for the overall contenders. So when I said,
this morning, that today's could make bigger gaps than some mountain stages, I
was right. Something happened to the leader board indeed. Unfortunately for them
Liquiqas lost quite a lot of time. When Vinokourov and a few others attacked we
had to make a decision, and chose to try hard to close down on them. We
succeeded, but that took toll on my legs and in the last part I just couldn't be
a factor. I'm happy that Vladimir (Karpets) made some progress in the GC
however".
"Today's unpaved sections were different from those of Paris-Roubaix; in any
event, riders like Evans, Basso etc. knew the route in advance because they had
checked it before. So stirring polemics about the parcours today would be
totally pointless; I'd rather think that stages like this make for a great show
and are good for the public. The roots of cycling themselves can be found out in
rides like today's".
Vincenzo Nibali Photo © 2010 Fotoreporter
Sirotti
Vincenzo Nibali: "When Scarponi fell, I
just couldn't avoid going down myself too. What can I do about that now? The
effects of the fall were so bad I could not even ride for a minute and a half.
The team helped us immediately, then me and Ivan stayed together until the
finishing line, taking regular turns that eventually helped us lose just two
minutes, so I think that we went fast too. Tomorrow's stage? Well, now let's
just try and recover from today's fall, then we'll see."
Ivan Basso at the pre race press conference. Photo © 2010 Fotoreporter
Sirotti
Ivan Basso: "What happened is that
unfortunately three of us (Vincenzo, Agnoli and me) fell and lost quite a bit of
time. Then all of our chances concerning today's ride were over. We had a bad
day, but sometimes things do not go the way you want to. All we could do was try
and defend ourselves, limit our losses as much as possible. I was ahead of
Vincenzo but chose to wait and join forces with him, for it was hard for me to
make up for that all by myself, later it was Nibali that slowed down his pace
and waited. We were about one minute back at the entrance of the unpaved piece
and in the end we lost only some two minutes, I think we did quite a good job in
this sense. It was a difficult day, now we'll start planning the race in a
different way, but the Giro is still open."
Damiano Cunego: "Today was a very tricky
day from the beginning, also because of the weather; it rained almost all the
time, and when we entered the Eroica race's unpaved roads in the last 45 km.
everything got even harder. It was like one of those epic races of the past. I
tried my best in order to stay with the likes of Vinokourov and Evans, in fact
it was a miracle that I did, but in the end I just couldn't be a match. Anyway,
while trying to follow Evans' wheels, I could notice how strong he was today.
The important thing for me now is to try and try again, going for some good
results; we'll see what I can do in the upcoming stages."
Giles Belbin's
Parcours Preview Week 1
Giles Belbin's
Parcours Preview Week 2
93rd Giro
d'Italia - Favorites Preview
2010 Giro
d'Italia Team & Rider Start List
2010 Giro
d'Italia - At a Glance
93rd Giro
d'Italia - Start List
Stage 5 Report
Stage 6 Report
Celebrating our tenth year!
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