Cycling. Van Aert, Van der Poel and the phenomenon of the miracles that were born from the mud
"I am human,"
argued
Filippo Ganna
after failing to win the
Tyrrhenian-Adriatic
final time trial
.
Beneath the mandatory mask, one could sense the smile of a good loser, who assumed that this moment had to come after winning his last eight tests against the clock, including that of the last world championship and the three of the 2020 Giro. He had been beating him since
Remco Evenepoel did it
in the
Vuelta a San Juan
in January of last year.
This Tuesday, in
San Benedetto
del Tronto, he was third, behind
Stefan Küng
(another specialist) and the winner
Wout Van Aert
.
It is clear then that to beat a prodigy it is necessary to be a prodigy, a category that in this Tyrrhenian has been exhibited to the world like few times.
Primoz Roglic
has hardly been missed
, who chose the
Paris-Nice
and ended up losing it due to a succession of falls.
It will be difficult, even at the Tour de France, to see such a constellation of stars together this year.
And so winning.
Namely:
Tadej Pogacar
took the general, the mountain, the youngsters and a stage;
Van Aert second place and two stages;
Mathieu Van der Poel
two other stages;
and
Alaphilippe
another.
Among the great dominators of cycling, only
Egan Bernal
, fourth overall, has seemed earthy in this wonderful week.
So much pomp covers everything else.
And that everything else must necessarily start with Mikel Landa, who sneaks into the photo of the podium escorting Pogacar and Van Aert, achieving a third place that would be a great result under normal circumstances and that is excellent given the demands of this edition and the competition around him.
The Spaniard finished ahead of Bernal, Almeida, Bardet,
Nibali, Simon Yates, Quintana, Fuglsang
... Also of Marc Soler, eleventh in his first contact with the competition of this course.
Far from Pogacar, above Bernal
"It is a test that I like. It will be the third race of the season and it may still be soon, but I hope to be close to victory," he confessed before starting at
Lido di Camaiore
.
He has stayed almost four minutes from Pogacar, but it would be unfair to scrutinize Landa with the Slovenian's yardstick, unattainable right now for anyone in stage events.
Beating
Bernal
(by 16 seconds), on the other hand, is a good measure of how the Bahrain leader started the season.
Unlike other climbers such as those already mentioned or
Yates
, Landa arrived at this Tirreno with just two days of competition on her legs.
Two good morning, by the way.
In the Laigueglia Trophy he had been sixth, in the first group after the winner
Bauke Mollema
, and in the Industry and Crafts Grand Prize he was third, beaten to the 'sprint' by
Mauri Vansevenant
and the Dutch cyclist himself.
Now he plans to rest for a couple of weeks before seeking victory at home, in the Tour of the Basque Country, which will be another good indication of what he will be able to do this course.
Although, if nothing unusual happens, he
will run the Tour de France
, his great goal of the season will be the Giro d'Italia, with a route that favors him due to his low time trial, a specialty that continues to be his great Achilles heel (in that of the Tirreno was 79th, 1:09 behind Van Aert).
His main challenge, without ever ruling out a victory that seems very difficult, will be to return to a podium of a great lap (he did it in the 2015 Giro) after finishing between four and seventh in his last attempts.
At 31, he knows that he has to take advantage of the options he has left.
And with a performance like that offered in Tirreno-Adriatico it is closer to being able to achieve it.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
Know more
Egan bernal
cycling
CyclingVan der Poel is exhibited in the infernal classic of the 'sterrato'
Cycling Van Aert, Van der Poel and the phenomenon of the miracles that were born from the mud: "It is the perfect combination for a champion to emerge"
CyclingWürtz Schmidt interferes in the concert of the four tenors in the Tirreno-Adriatico
See links of interest
2021 business calendar
Almeria - Alcorcón
Barcelona - Huesca
Wolverhampton Wanderers - Liverpool
Barça - Unicaja