On The Road
by: Bill Oetinger 6/1/2022
In the Pink
The Giro d’Italia ended on May 29…just a couple of days ago if you’re reading this when it hits the street. That makes this almost breaking news. Even so, most dedicated bike race fans will already know the Giro was won by 26-year old Australian Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe), with Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) 2nd at 1:18 and Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious) 3rd at 3:24.
I haven’t heard any of the race commentators saying this, nor read any of the print journalists writing it, so maybe it’s just me…but I felt this year’s race was a little dull compared to some recent Giros or other Grand Tours. First of all, most teams were saving their A-list team leaders and in fact their A-list teams for the Tour de France. That’s nothing new for the Giro. In fact, it can make for some exciting racing, with potentially unpredictable results. But still, when you look at the pool of talent, it came up a little short of breathtaking. Also, for whatever it’s worth, neither of the winners of the past two Giros was entered: Tao Geohegan Hart (2020) or Egan Bernal (2021). Nor was last year’s 2nd place finisher, Damiano Caruso. And then, among that less-than-star-studded cast, there were quite a few significant abandons among riders who might have been considered important: Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) on Stage 4; Romain Bardet (DSM) on Stage 13 (after coming down with the flu the day before); former Giro champ Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo Visma) on Stage 14; Simon Yates on Stage 17; Joao Almeida (UAE) after Stage 17 (a positive COVID test); and Richie Porte (Ineos) on Stage 18.
Then the course was not all that challenging. There were five or six mountain stages but only one of them really made a difference (Stage 20). All but one of the others were won out of breakaways, while, in every case, the presumptive favorites finished in a bunch. And, as I mentioned last month, the only time trials were 9.2-km on Stage 2 and 17.4-km on the final stage. That adds up to a measly 16.5 miles. Hardly enough to separate the sheep from the goats.
But you can’t hold it against the riders for the rosters their teams put together, nor for the stages the organizers gave them. So let’s see what they did with what they were given…
The first three stages were in Hungary. Mathieu van der Poel won a lively uphill sprint finish on the first stage and wore the maglia rosa for those first three stages. Then they flew to Sicily for the traditional climb of Etna. Lennard Kamna (Bora-Hansgrohe) won out of a two-main break but it was his companion, Juan Pedro Lopez (Trek-Segafredo), equal on time, who took over the pink jersey. Once he got it, he kept it for ten stages. No one figured he’d wear it all the way to the end but he made a valiant effort and at the end of the race he went home with the Best Young Rider jersey (he’s 24).
Behind Lopez and behind assorted breakaways and sprint finishes, the key players were mostly biding their time. With the benefit of 20-20 hindsight, we can say that only what happened on Stage 20 really mattered. But there were little jostlings in the standings prior to that which seemed important at the time. Knowing what we know now, we can say the only riders who really mattered (for the GC) were Richard Carapaz (Ineos) and Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe). Carapaz was certainly the presumptive favorite before the Giro began. The Giro champion in 2019 and backed by the powerful Ineos team. Hindley? Not so much. He finished 2nd at :38 in the 2020 Giro but since then, pretty much nada. A 5th overall at Tirreno-Adriatico was his only notable result this year, until now.
Hindley was :10 behind Carapaz after the Etna climb on Stage 4. Then he won the next climb to Blockhaus on Stage 9. Five top riders finished together with Hindley out-sprinting the others. Carapaz was 3rd. So Hindley was awarded :10 for 1st and Carapaz :05 for 3rd, thereby reducing the gap between them to just :05. A few seconds shifted back and forth between the two of them through Stage 16, at which point, Hindley had whittled the gap down to just 3 seconds. Carapaz had taken over the lead after Stage 14 and held it through Stage 19.
But everything changed on Stage 20, the second-to-last stage, with only that short time trial on the final day. This was a brutally tough stage in the Dolomites, with three major ascents. The final one was the infamous Marmolada (Passo Fedaia): 13 km long with the final 6 km at 10.4%.
As I see it, three significant factors had a bearing on what happened on that big stage. First was the abandon on Stage 19 of Richie Porte, Carapaz’s #1 mountain domestique. Had he still been there on Stage 20 and at his normal best, he would have pulled like a train for Carapaz. But he wasn’t there, so he couldn’t pull…Carapaz was isolated. Second factor was Carapaz simply having a bad day…a jour sans. Maybe Porte couldn’t have dragged him up the mountain. Or maybe he could have. But on his own, Carapaz just didn’t have it. The third factor was Lennard Kamna, a strong rider and Hindley’s teammate. He had been up the road ahead of Hindley and Carapaz but he dropped out of the break and waited for Hindley to reel him in, which happened just about where the ascent got serious, with 6 km to go. Kamna buried himself for Hindley and they almost immediately dropped Carapaz. Game over. At the finish, Hindley was 1:28 ahead of Carapaz. Minus the :03 he’d been behind, he now took over the lead by 1:25.
Hindley is not noted for being a killer time trialer. He’s not terrible but is not among the best. Recall that he lost the Giro in 2020 by losing the final time trial. Same scenario this year only he had a bigger time cushion this year. It was more than enough: he conceded :07 to Carapaz, leaving his final lead at 1:18. (They were 10th and 15th in the ITT…quite respectable.)
Hindley is the first Aussie to win the Giro. He looked pretty much smooth and unruffled throughout. But he didn’t dominate; he didn’t crush the competition. Except on Stage 20, and that was the only place it mattered.
Vincenzo Nibali finished a very good 4th overall in his last Giro. A distant 4th but still…ahead of all but three riders. He can ride off into the sunset with his head held high.
It was a bitter loss for Ineos, not only with respect to this race but also considering their whole season. Who will be their team leader at le Tour? It’s funny: they used to be the most dominant team in stage racing and a bit weak in one-day races. This year they had a stellar campaign in the spring classics but now a less-than-ideal result in a Grand Tour. (Second place would be a red-letter day for most teams but Ineos is not most teams.)
We’ll find out about that in July…
Top Ten
1. Jai Hindley (Aus) BORA-hansgrohe, in 86-31-14
2. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Ineos Grenadiers, at 1-18
3. Mikel Landa (Esp) Bahrain-Victorious, at 3-24
4. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan Team, at 9-02
5. Pello Bilbao (Esp) Bahrain-Victorious, at 9-14
6. Jan Hirt (Cze) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux, at 9-28
7. Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) BORA-hansgrohe, at 13-19
8. Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux, at 17-29
9. Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education-EasyPost, at 17-54
10. Juan Pedro López (Spa) Trek-Segafredo, at 18-40
Bill can be reached at srccride@sonic.net