Ciccone: ‘Super good numbers, strange feeling’ as blue jersey softens Giro frustration

Vingegaard trailed Ciccone by 57 points ahead of Saturday’s stage, which had a maximum of 99 points on offer, including 50 for the stage winner. Prior to the start, Vingegaard signalled his intention to try to win a fifth stage on this Giro.

After the day’s early break hoovered up the points on the first climb, the category 3 ascent to Clauzetto, Ciccone knew then that he could seal the blue jersey mathematically if Vingegaard was not among the first four riders on the first of two ascents of Piancavallo.

The break began to fragment on the climb to Piancavallo, however, while Vingegaard’s Visma | Lease a Bike squad set a brisk pace that saw its lead shrink to little more than a minute on the upper reaches of the climb.

Shortly before the summit, Ciccone rode up alongside Vingegaard as if to inquire whether the maglia rosa was planning to contest the points on offer atop Piancavallo, though the conversation was already moot.

There were still five riders up the road, and they took enough points off the table to mathematically seal the maglia azzurra for Ciccone with a mountain to spare. As if to celebrate, Ciccone accelerated past Igor Arrieta (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) to take sixth at the summit.

Ciccone must complete the Giro in Rome on Sunday to secure his second king of the mountains title, having previously taken the crown in 2019. He was also king of the mountains at the Tour de France in 2023.

The blue jersey, however, came with mixed emotions. Lidl-Trek endured a tough and frustrating Giro, while Jonathan Milan missed out on opportunities and Ciccone himself was unable to land the stage victory he had chased so persistently. 

Once he had decided to abandon his GC ambitions, a stage win and the mountains jersey had become his two main goals.

“For sure, I miss the victory, and that is not the best feeling you can have in a Grand Tour,” Ciccone said to CyclingPro.net. “When I decided not to do the GC, my main goal was a stage victory and also this jersey. But I can be really proud to have this jersey, because it is something really hard to do. After seven years, I did it again, so I’m really happy.”

Ciccone insisted he could not fault his commitment across the final part of the race, where he was a constant attacker but repeatedly fell short of a stage win.

“I did everything to win a stage,” he said. “Today I was empty, with no energy. I think I did everything.”

Asked whether he had shown his best level at this Giro, Ciccone admitted the answer was not straightforward. The numbers suggested he was performing at a very high level, but the feeling on the bike was more complicated, particularly on the days when victory was within reach but still slipped away.

“Maybe it’s hard to say,” he said. “The numbers were super good, but the feeling was a bit strange. Especially when you are there, like yesterday, and you can’t win. You have the feeling that maybe you are not feeling good, but in the end the numbers were super good. My trainer also said I can be happy about the performance.”