Hey, no one said pro cycling would be easy. Some days, things happen. Maybe that means holding onto a bottle for a bit too long — no shame, do what you gotta do.
But a bunch of our fellow Commonwealthers had to pay up some Swiss francs after an epic day of racing at the Giro d’Italia.
The Giro hit the high mountains on Saturday with a brutal 133-km stage to Pila, and all eyes were on Jonas Vingegaard as he hunted down race leader Afonso Eulálio. An early breakaway featuring our good pal, Sainte-Lucie-des-Laurentides, Que.’s Nickolas Zukowsky animated the stage before the decisive climbs shattered the race.
A tough day at the races
The Lin Noir and Verrogne ascents reduced the escapees, with Giulio Ciccone scooping maximum KOM points. On the final climb to Pila, Vingegaard’s pace proved too much for Eulálio and Osgoode, Ont.’s Derek Gee, both dropped well before the finish as the GC battle exploded in the Alps.
After the race, there’s the results sheet. And then there’s the “uh-oh, you messed up” list in the communiqué from bike races.
On Saturday, it was this. Okay, only two are British. One is a Kiwi. Still, solid representation from the Commonwealth.
Ben Turner and directeur sportif Leonardo Basso (Netcompany INEOS) were fined 200 and 500 Swiss francs respectively for taking a sticky bottle.
Mark Donovan (Pinarello Q36.5) received a 500 Swiss francs fine, lost four Red Bull KM points and was relegated to last place in his group for deviating from his line and obstructing another rider at the Red Bull KM sprint.
Directeur sportif Shane Archbold (Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe) was handed a 200 Swiss francs fine and a yellow card for failing to respect commissaires’ instructions. (Yeah, he’s from New Zealand.)
Well anyway, life moves fast, lads. Tomorrow is another day. Stage 15 is from Voghera to Milan for a a total of 157km. And yeah, there are gonna be some sore legs, but probably no one is gonna need a few sticky bottles. (Not tomorrow at least, and no shame.)