Ciccone deliberately loses time on GC to target stage wins: 'Tomorrow we start a new Giro'

Giulio Ciccone’s pre-Giro ambitions indicated that he would target stages and the mountains classification, and Derek Gee-West, who finished 4th last year, would lead the GC charge for Lidl-Trek. 

Therefore, when Ciccone moved into the maglia rosa on stage 4 in Cosenza, eyebrows were raised as to whether the Italian would look to remain in the GC picture for as long as possible. 

After a strong ride on Blockhaus, Ciccone remained towards the sharp end of the standings heading into stage 8, sitting 8th overall, and ahead of Gee-West in 13th. 

However, harbouring stage win ambitions, Ciccone found a stumbling block on the run-in to Fermo, as he was a marked man whenever he tried to make a move. 

“Yeah, in the end I tried different times, but I was too close in GC and Visma, and also the jersey they don't want me up there,” Ciccone told reporters at the finish.

Ultimately, the Italian made the decision to support Gee-West before losing time on purpose on the hilly run-in to the finish, underscoring his main ambition of fighting for stage victories at this Giro. 

“So I tried to do my best for Derek [Gee-West], and I took it easy on the last kick. So let’s see, from tomorrow we start a new Giro,” explained Ciccone.

As a result of his decision, Ciccone has dropped to 28th in the GC and now sits 9:42 behind race leader Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain-Victorious).

As a three-time Giro stage winner and former mountains classification champion, Ciccone should now have more freedom to hunt breakaway victories and animate the rest of this year's race.