The Giro d'Italia 2021 will go down in history as the race that brought some normality back to cycling.with the return of the public to the ditches and its natural development in the month of May. But it will also remain in the fans' retina, as the race that one of the most weather-demanding races of recent years.It was brutally cold and rainy, alternating with days of humid and suffocating heat.
The UAE Team Emirates closed this Giro 2021 with a balance that includes a stage, that of Joe Dombrowski in the medieval Sestola, the attempts of Fernando Gaviria to shine in a sprint, sometimes with all the elements against him, the brilliant performance of Alesandro Covi, the infinite category of Diego Ulissi and the regularity pursued by Davide Formolo.
UAE Team Emirates' Giro diary
Stage 3, finish in La Canale
Taco Van der Horn manages to outwit the peloton control, emerging alive and successful from one of the many breakaways that would come to fruition during the race. In the peloton UAE Team Emirates works for Fernando Gaviria, but the lack of collaboration from other teams prevents the chase.
Stage 4, finish in Sestola
Another day of good breakaway and this time with Joe Dombrowski putting the shine on UAE Team Emirates' work. On the eve of his birthday, the American comes out alive from a breakaway developed in very hard conditions of terrain and weather, being the best in the first summit finish of the Giro 2021 and staying not far from the maglia rosa that ends up wearing his breakaway teammate, Alessandro De Marchi.
Stage 5, finish in Cattolica
For Joe Dombrowski the Giro ends here. In a dangerous finish, in the center of the town overlooking the Adriatic, there is a crash, the same one that caused the abandonment of Mikel Landa, in which the American is badly injured. Despite reaching the finish, Joe leaves the race 24 hours after winning the stage, wearing the maglia azzura of best climber.
Stage 10, finish in Foligno
The brutal pace of Bora The brutal pace of the race is causing an atrocious cleanup of sprinters in the peloton. Among them, Peter Sagan and Fernando Gaviria, who already have good duels behind them, are holding their own. Sebastián Molano leads the group to the finish, but Gaviria chooses the wheel of Sagan, who in the final straight is unbeatable. In the general classification, Davide Formolo continues his silent fight to stay in the top ten of the Giro.
Stage 11, finish in Montalcino
The key day of the Giro d'Italia, the one that crosses the white roads of Tuscany, is the first chapter to appreciate the progress of Alessandro Covi in his first big one ever. The Italian gets into the good breakaway, burns and burns stretches of land among the best and reaches the very center of Montalcino in the company of the Swiss Mauro Schmid, faster in the sprint.
Stage 13, finish in Verona
The beautiful Verona, in a meander of the Adiggio, hosts the last sprint of the Giro d'Italia 2021. On the same straight where Freire was twice proclaimed world champion, the remaining sprinters in the race will be making their final push. Among them Fernando Gaviria, one of the top favorites, who sees the saddle of his bike fall by the wayside, crossing the finish line with the seatpost in sight. The golden Colombian, once a frequent winner, continues to fill pages and pages in the book of his misfortune.
Stage 14, finish on Mount Zoncolan
In the confines of Friuli, the Zoncolan awaits the caravan of a Giro that one more day arrives with a good breakaway. The cyclist from EoloLorenzo Fortunato wins, the strongest of a cut of great quality, including, once again, Alessandro Covi, third in the giant of the Giro 2021.
Stage 16, finish in Cortina d'Ampezzo
The queen stage is reduced, due to the threat of snow, to the Passo Giau, the hardest of a day that included Marmolada and Pordoi. With the shortening of the stage, the start is made to knife and Davide Formolo infiltrates the good cut, convinced that the best option to shine in the Giro is the breakaway. However, Davide doesn't count on the fact that the big names in the general classification are in contention. Egan Bernal himself takes the lead on the Giau and arrives alone at Cortina.
Stage 17, finish in Sega di Ala
The change of weather is brutal, if in Cortina the weather was freezing, here the heat takes over the race. In these conditions emerges a rider with eight stage wins in the Giro, Diego Ulissi, who, in the midst of the heat of the fight for the overall, has enough to finish fourth. The cyclist from Cecina, on the Ligurian coast, is once again among the best, leaving behind the health problems of the beginning of the year.
Stage 18, fine in Stradella
Kilometric stage at the gates of the final days, in which Diego Ulissi, together with Max Richeze, gets back into the good cut, from which Remi Cavagna, first, and Alberto Bettiol, finally, come out. Ulissi finished in fifth place.
Sunday, May 30,
The peloton lands in Milan for the final day, a time trial, to round off a Giro d'Italia to which UAE Team Emirates came with the idea of shining on all terrains, achieving an almost perennial presence among the best. Joe Dombrowski's stage win was the highlight, along with the performance of Italians Covi and Ulissi.
PhotosBettiniPhoto / Fizza Photo