April 19/12 17:09 pm - Giro del Trentino: Stage 3

Posted by Editoress on 04/19/12
 

A masterpiece by Pozzovivo in Punta Veleno show

Spectacular as expected, maybe even more so: the uphill finish of the third stage of the Giro del Trentino on feared Punta Veleno’s slopes splintered the GC contenders, crowning Colnago-CSF Domenico Pozzovivo as winner after an absolutely brilliant performance. The pint-sized rider from Basilicata went clear after the first three kilometres of the formidable ascent, widening his margin on Polish Sylvester Szmyd (the closest among his chasers) up to 35 sec, managing the gap until the finish line, and taking the leader’s jersey.

“I was really upset after yesterday’s stage outcome – Pozzovivo said - even though I had already had some good feelings. Today everything panned out well, even though such extreme climbs are not that suited to me. Still, I found my day here in Punta Veleno, climbing constantly beyond my heart-rate threshold, and I never gave it up despite such an extreme effort. Tomorrow’s is another good stage for me, I think I have a chance to take it all.”

Damiano Cunego lived up to the good performance he gave on Wednedsay’s win in Sant’Orsola Terme, providing an effort that led him to the third place, with a 1:12 gap that stopped shot of him taking the overall leader. Cunego still sits in second position, 25 sec behind the Colnago-CSF rider. The conteston the final stage to Passo Pordoi is still very open, and Polish Szmyd, currently third 49 seconds behind Pozzovivo, holds a very good chance as well.

“I am very happy with my display – Cunego said. “I looked at Scarponi’s position, but when I saw he couldn’t hold on I just went on to take my chances. I was supposed to save some energies for Liege, but clearly I will not. Now I am into it, I won’t back down.”

Behind Pozzovivo, Jose Rujano was one of the stage protagonists, but dropped a little in the second part, being caught by Cunego, as was Roman Kreuziger, both tackled the ascent in a very aggressive fashion, but ended up paying for the effort on distance, probably because of a bad gear choice.

Punta Veleno verdicts were predictable – and heavy. Green light for Rujano (4th, 1:20), Kreuziger (5th, 1:40) and, in the big picture, former leader Frank, 13th with a 2:35 gap. Higher delays for Rolland (20th, 3:41), Gadret (24th, 4:26), and even Basso (28th, 4.54). Bad defeats for Di Luca and Scarponi, 12:15 behind (56th and 57th respectively).

Trentino press release