Carapaz unflappable to the last at Giro d'Italia
Richard Carapaz (Movistar) won the Giro d'Italia two kilometres from the top of the fearsome Passo Manghen. The ghosts of recent late turnarounds on the corsa rosa had haunted the build-up to the Dolomite tappone, with many pointing to the Manghen as the most likely launchpad for a long-range offensive from Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) in the same vein as Chris Froome's attack on the Colle delle Finestre a year ago.
That spectre vanished quickly on the upper reaches of the climb. When Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) accelerated viciously from the maglia rosa group, he was immediately followed by Carapaz and his Movistar teammate Mikel Landa. Nibali managed to match their rhythm at first but was forced to relent when Lopez kicked once again.
This was where Nibali was supposed to be putting Carapaz under pressure. Instead, the Ecuadorian had 15 seconds in hand on his closest challenger by the summit. In footballing terms, it was the equivalent of scoring an early away goal when already defending a hefty lead from the home leg. 116 kilometres remained on the penultimate stage of the Giro, but Carapaz was already atop the podium in Verona.
Carapaz did not reconnoitre the climbs of this Giro, relying instead on intelligence provided by his Movistar team. A man didn't need a detailed breakdown, however, to understand that the Manghen was the pivotal moment on the penultimate stage. "Before I started the Giro, I analysed every stage, and assimilated what I saw, mentally, each climb, and that helped a lot so that I knew how to suffer at each moment," Carapaz said afterwards.
Nibali re-joined Carapaz et al over the other side, and the pink jersey group grew considerably in number once again in the valley that preceded the Passo Rolle. The skirmishes among the favourites were instead postponed until the penultimate ascent of Croce d'Aune, where Landa attacked from the pink jersey group in a bid to distance Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) and secure a place on the podium alongside his teammate.
Carapaz rode with assurance to track Nibali when he bridged across on the descent that followed, and this trio took on the final ascent to Monte Avena together, catching the earlier escapees as they went. Nibali, long resigned to the fact that he simply could not drop Carapaz, worked with the Movistar duo to put 50 seconds into Roglic.
Nibali
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com