Pogacar’s fifth Giro d’Italia victory arrived yesterday, which once again fell victim to controversy. The Slovenian champion in the pink jersey lined up with the entire group, who requested and then received a shortened stage due to the snow and low temperatures they would have encountered while racing at altitude.
“Not all teams wanted to race in those conditions – I think,” explained Pogacar in the press conference We all wanted to find a common solution. I believe that the decision that was made was the right one and that in the end there was a fair agreement with the UCI and the CPA. “It’s nice to see the runners united.”
The weather situation was already looking difficult on Monday evening: “Unfortunately for the organizers, it was not possible to complete all the steps. As I said before, there was difficulty getting through the capital ships. I’m sorry because I would love to do a Stelvio Because it’s one of the most iconic climbs in cycling, especially when you’re wearing the pink jersey. Maybe when I was 15 I would have thought differently, thinking that cycling was a race in the sun and the rain, but today I see it differently.”
It was not the Slovenian’s plan to win yesterday but he eventually found himself in front and also caught up with the last escapee, Giulio Pelizzari, who finished second behind him.
“My plan was not to race hard to win, but we wanted to go slow. Even today it will be difficult, stage. “I don’t know if we will aim to win again, we have to think about all the riders in the team and now I don’t need to push my limits and this way I will have a chance to recover between one stage and the next.”
Giulio Pelizzari, although he crossed the finish line in second place, felt like the winner in some ways, because he finished behind one of the strongest runners in the world. “I saw Pelizzari behind me and I thought Martinez was closer, so I tried to push him further away. Pelizzari did an excellent job and was very strong. I hope he can win this week’s stage because he showed great talent “The Italians can be happy because they have shown that they have talent among the youth.”
Giulio Pelizzari is only 20 years old, and when he competed in the youth categories, Pogacar was already looked up to as an idol. “It is nice to see the enthusiasm of a young man like Pelizzari. He sent me a photo of the two of us together at Strade Bianche in 2019He was really young, just an enthusiast and came to watch the race. I am happy to see that he has improved and is now in the Giro d’Italia trying to win a stage.”
The Slovenian champion likes to be able to plan the race, but this is not always possible and for this reason, he had to change his strategy and win the stage. “I’m the type of person who wants to plan things and I got that from my girlfriend. The older I get, the more I want to have a plan in a race and have it followed perfectly. In cycling, it’s practically impossible, in fact things didn’t go as planned but we won anyway and that makes me happy. “Movistar went for the win, which was a surprise for me, but in the end it worked out well for us.”
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