Perhaps sometimes, it just isn’t meant to be your day. Marco Frigo tried three times to break away during Wednesday’s 17th Giro d’Italia stage, only to be thwarted on each occasion.
“We wanted to be in the breakaway again and today was a day I was looking forward to,” says Frigo, who went on to finish 33rd on Passo Brocon. “I rode this stage a few weeks ago and I have been targeting it since the start of the Giro.”
First, the good news: the Italian rider continues to look strong in the final days of this year’s first Grand Tour. After a near 25-kilometer attack from KM0 was shut down by an unforgiving peloton in Tuesday’s shortened stage, Frigo quickly found himself in a 10-man group this afternoon, one that formed on the descent of the Passo Sella.
For a short time, this group looked set to ride off into the distance towards the finish on the category one Passo Brocon. However, after gaining a maximum lead of just under two minutes, the peloton worked to shut it down.
After this group was caught a little over 60 kilometers from the finish, Frigo tried twice more. Both moves were in pursuit of eventual stage winner Georg Steinhauser (EF Education – EasyPost).
“It was a hard day from the start,” adds Frigo. “Once the first breakaway had formed, there were strong guys in the front, and I thought we had a good group. Just like yesterday, I cannot control what happens behind me, that’s cycling.
“After the race came together again, I missed the opportunities to follow the stage winner. That’s a pity because it made the stage difficult, I was always chasing from that point. Of course, it turns out that the race was over.
“Maybe I should take the glass-half-full mentality because I had good legs. But, ultimately, I’m here to get a good result and that’s still missing.”
Thankfully, despite packing in nearly 4,000 meters of climbing in 159 kilometers, all four IPT riders comfortably made it to the finish within the time cut.
