"I had the last three mountain stages marked out and I wanted to win at home” said Alessandro Covi, crazy with emotion at the top of the Marmolada.. Piemontese, a native of Borgomanero, had just won on the most important peak of the Giro d'Italia24 hours before the finish in Verona. Alessandro Covi, one of the best cyclists of the UAE Team Emirates at the start of the season, had put the cherry on top of his great season..
The team's goal was to win a stage
More with the abandonment of João Almeida due to illness. Winning here is the best news we've had to finish the Giro. As I'm not a great climber, I wanted to attack from afar. and take advantage of the rest. When I saw myself alone, I thought of nothing else but to give it my all.without worrying about my legs, and that's because I had I suffered some ramps towards the end of the”.
This is how an emotional Alessandro Covi expressed himself after his monumental victory. victory in the most outstanding stage of a Giro d'Italia. that UAE Team Emirates had not been able to win so far.
From Gaviria's shots to the post...
And, as Covi himself recalled at the finish line of the Marmolada, the team was impatient to score its first Giro win.. A stage that had been waiting three weeks from the start and that was achieved with the bell.
It was not for lack of trying.
Until Covi crossed that finish line first, UAE Team Emirates had been close to opening the victory box.
The most repeated and obvious trump card was that of Fernando Gaviria who, before the race left Hungary, had already scored his first stage podium, coming third behind Cavendish and Démare in Balatonfüred.
Already in Italy, the Colombian finished second in both sprints. behind Démare in Messina and Dainese in Reggio Emilia.
Already at the beginning of the month, the first of May, Gaviria had finished second in the Eschborn-Frankfurtbehind Sam Bennett in a race traditionally held on that date and very suitable for fast riders.
Another shot to the post in Italy, Davide Formolo had tried in a breakaway of the highest level on the way to Potenza that ended up in the hands of Bouwman. Formolo gave his all during the day, but the majority of the Jumbo riders in the breakaway was decisive.
...to the abandonment of Almeida
Apart from Fernando Gaviria's places of honor, UAE Team Emirates' Giro was built around the luck of João Almeida.
Always among the best, or close to them, the Portuguese could not finish the race because of a Covid that manifested itself in the final stages. A pity, because until then, Almeida was still in with a chance maybe not to win, but to step on the podium of the Giro d'Italia.
With two top ten finishes already on his back
Almeida had the ability to and experience enough in the race to aspire to the drawer. And so he did during the almost three weeks he was in competition, chasing every day a little bit to stay with options until almost the end.
It was in the Lavarone stage when his body said enough was enough. and Mikel Landa took enough of a lead to be able to defend it in the final time trial. But we didn't see such a duel, the illness prevented him from João the top three until the epilogue in Verona.
At that time the sore throat and the bad nights put an end to Almeida's podium dream.The bitter news was partly assuaged by Covi's success and that of Sebastian Molano, far away in Laval, in the sprint of the fourth stage of Boucles de la Mayenne.
UAE Team Emirates in June
- June 5 to 12: Critérium du Dauphiné with Brandon McNulty and Juan Ayuso
- June 10: Canton d'Aargau Grand Prix with Marc Hirschi
- June 12 to 19: Tour of Switzerland with Davide Formolo, Marc Soler and Matteo Trentin
- June 15 to 19: Tour of Slovenia with Tadej Pogačar
