Six years after his revelation on the side of Sestola, three years after his affirmation in the Mortirolo stage, the rider from Abruzzo has put an end to a difficult period, between disappointments, falls and covid-19.
"It's a new start for me", estimated the Italian who sought to ignite the public massed in the finish straight and gave new satisfaction to the Trek team after the ten days in pink of the 'Spanish Juan Pedro Lopez.
Ciccone, who wore the Tour de France yellow jersey for two days in 2019, overcame his bitter disappointment at the Blockhaus stage seven days earlier in the Giro.
At home, he had been one of the first riders left behind on a road of which he knows every bend and had lost all chance in the general classification.
The Italian climber was able this time to infiltrate a breakaway without consequences for the hierarchy at the top of the classification.
The pink jersey, the Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz, only had to worry about a fall at the start of the stage, with about fifteen other riders.
The Olympic champion was left with a roll-ball in the grassy side.
For the stage victory, Ciccone distanced 19 kilometers from the finish his last companions.
On the line, installed at an altitude of 1611 meters, he preceded by almost a minute and a half the young Colombian climber Santiago Buitrago (22 years old), with a promising future.
Trek rider Giulio Ciccone solo winner of the 15th stage of the Tour of Italy in Cogne, Valle d'Aosta, May 22, 2022 Luca Bettini AFP
"The fatigue accumulates", notes Carapaz
"The most difficult part was at the start of the last climb, I told myself that I had to go alone, I didn't want to take the risk of a sprint with several", explained the Italian, the third rider of the host country to win since leaving Hungary after Alberto Dainese and Stefano Oldani.
This mountain stage, which presented three climbs (the first two classified in the first category), contributed to wearing out the organisms.
The breakaway of the day took shape after... 80 kilometers and many attempts.
"Everyone wanted to take the breakaway, it went very quickly," noted Carapaz who remained surrounded by his Inéos teammates (Castroviejo, Porte, Sivakov) unlike the day before in Turin.
"The fatigue is building up, it's a very tough race."
In the general classification, the best operation was carried out by Guillaume Martin, who left to nibble time more than 40 kilometers from the finish.
The Frenchman, who wanted to reassure himself after his misfortunes in Turin and find "pleasure", recovered more than a minute and a half and regained his place in the top ten of the Giro.
The pink jersey Richard Carapaz protected by his team in the climb to Cogne, end of the 15 stage of the Giro, May 22, 2022 Luca Bettini AFP
The race finished in the Cogne valley (north-west), the runners took the opposite direction, towards the east, to reach the surroundings of Lake Garda in order to spend the last day of rest in view of the mountainous last week .
From Tuesday, the Mortirolo, one of the scarecrows of the Giro, awaits the peloton!
© 2022 AFP