Why Ciccone's pink jersey won't change Lidl-Trek's Giro strategy: 'You have to be realistic'

Giulio Ciccone has known both happiness and heartbreak over the years at the Giro d’Italia, from a stage win at Sestola on his debut a decade ago to the crash in Friuli that abruptly ended his challenge last year.

That incident appeared to mark a formal end to Ciccone’s longstanding but never quite realised aspirations of developing into a GC rider at the Grand Tours, where his best result is his 11th-place finish on the 2024 Tour de France.

When Lidl-Trek signed Derek Gee-West last winter, they immediately handed Giro leadership to the Canadian champion, while Ciccone was quietly deployed to hunt stage victories. That seemed to be that.

But after riding into the first maglia rosa of his career in Cosenza on Tuesday, Ciccone might well be tempted to rethink his long-term ambitions for this race, even if he acknowledged that setting out from Bulgaria in something of a free role had allowed to him to race in more carefree way to this point.

“Going for GC forces you to be concentrated in every moment of the race, but when you can race with this lightness, it helps you save a bit of energy and also makes you more lucid at times,” Ciccone told reporters after taking a seat in the press conference truck.

Ciccone started stage 4 in fifth place overall, just six seconds off Guillermo Thomas Silva’s pink jersey. The tunic became a clear target when the Uruguayan was distanced on the climb of Cozzo Tunno, and Ciccone moved into a share of the virtual lead when he sprinted to third place at the bonus sprint over the other side.

That made for a four-way contest when the gruppo reached Cosenza, where Jan Christen (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) tried to steal a march by slipping clear in the final kilometres. Ciccone sagely bided his time for the 40-strong bunch sprint, and third place behind winner Jhonatan Narváez (UAE) gave him the seconds he needed to move into pink for the first time in his career.

“Today is one of those days where it’s hard to find the words, because I started as a child with this jersey in my heart. My dream as a rider was to wear it, if only for a day – or a night,” Ciccone smiled. “I don’t know if it’s the beginning or the end of the road, but I do know it’s the jersey I most dreamed of wearing.”

That, of course, is the pressing question. Ciccone played a straight bat when asked to expand on whether this pink jersey marks the beginning or the end of his interest in the general classification at the Giro. 

“I think that the biggest decision will be made by the team, they’re the ones who will decide the plans,” Ciccone said. “We’ve come to this Giro with a team weighted mainly towards the sprints, 80% of our team is here to help Jonny [Milan] in the sprints, so you have to be realistic. There are teams that have come here for the GC only and that’s not the case for us. You don’t improvise a GC challenge from one day to the next. 

“I have good condition and the desire to fight to be there. I don’t want to throw the jersey away. I want to carry it for as long as I can and for as long as I have the legs, but you have to realise that there are teams who are here solely for the GC too.”

Speaking to RAI television’s Processo alla Tappa analysis show, Lidl-Trek manager Luca Guercilena insisted that Ciccone’s role would not change.

“The idea for Giulio was the chase stages,” Guercilena said. “Giulio always had the dream of the pink jersey, but it’s clear that Derek is here for the GC and Giulio is here for stage wins and the king of the mountains. Now that Giulio has the jersey, he’ll look to keep it – but Gee remains our leader. Our strategy doesn’t change.”

No matter, Ciccone will hope to carry the jersey at least until the Giro reaches his native Abruzzo on Friday, with a summit finish on the Blockhaus. On the Giro’s last visit four years ago, Ciccone suffered one of the greatest disappointments of his career when his GC challenge imploded on its slopes. 

“Keeping it at the Blockhaus will be very, very difficult because it’s the first test for Jonas and on a climb of 30 minutes, it would be very difficult to stay with him,” Ciccone said. “I’ll try, of course, but you have to be realistic.”

Before then, of course, Ciccone and Lidl-Trek face a rugged stage 5 to Potenza, and it remains to be seen how they will approach the defence of the jersey given the riders at their disposal here. 

“It’s a tough stage, we’re all very close on GC,” Ciccone said. “To defend the jersey, you need a team that do it. We have Derek Gee, but he’s here for the GC and, quite rightly, he won’t be the one pulling to give me a hand. It’s hard.”