Ciccone's effort to escape peloton falls short of Giro victory: 'Even today they don't want me up there'

24 hours after deliberately losing time on GC due to being a marked man, Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) almost immediately capitalised, coming close to victory on stage 9.

Despite losing time on Saturday, Ciccone still found himself marked in the initial breakaway formation. However, the Italian simply wouldn’t take no for an answer… he was a man on a mission.

“Yeah, even today they don't want me up there from the start, Decathlon,” Ciccone said at the finish. “I spent quite a lot trying. I tried many times, and yeah, then it was just annoying the tempo in the bunch and I had nothing to lose."

With 74km to go, Ciccone sprang out of the peloton with Diego Ulissi (XDS Astana) and Toon Aerts (Lotto-Intermarché) joining him for company. Within 15km, the trio had bridged a two-minute gap to the breakaway. 

“So on the small kick I tried to jump because the breakaway was close, and even there I spent quite a lot to close this gap,” said Ciccone.

A lack of cooperation saw the breakaway split with 25km, before Ciccone dismantled his opponents one by one. Ciccone struck out for home with 7.5km on the lower slopes of Corno alle Scale, distancing his final breakaway companion, Einer Rubio (Movistar).

However, Ciccone’s advantage to the peloton rapidly dwindled thanks to the pace set by both Decathlon CMA and Visma | Lease a Bike. Both teams were setting up their respective leaders, Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM), for an attack, with both proving to be the strongest on the climb. 

The Italian was caught by Gall and Vingegaard with 1.8km remaining, and was quickly distanced, feeling the earlier efforts in his legs. 

“Then I was feeling quite good on the last climb. So I tried to give everything, but it was not enough, the gap was not big, and even the efforts before for sure were still in the legs.”

In the end, it was a case of close but no cigar for Ciccone, who crossed the line in 11th, 0:57 behind stage winner Vingegaard. Ciccone explained that he hopes that getting into the breakaway will become easier in the second and third weeks, with stages that have climbs at the start of the stage.

"In the end, it was a good try. For sure, maybe in the next few days when we have some stages with some climbs at the start, it will be much better for me, and for sure it will be harder for the others to control, so it’s going to be better,” explained Ciccone. 

The wait for a fourth stage victory at the Giro goes on for Ciccone, but the Italian is getting closer, and the motivation is as strong as ever.