American sensation Matthew Riccitello reflects on his first Grand Tour: "I'm really glad I got to do it"

In the first Grand Tour of his career, 21-year-old American prodigy Matthew Riccitello made a big impression. Speaking after his experience, the Israel - Premier Tech rider was extremely grateful to have been given the opportunity.

"They told me in March that it was a possibility that I would do the Giro. And when I thought about it, I said I wanted to do it. When they told me that I would get to do it, it was a bit of a surprise," Riccitello tells Cycling News. "But in the end, it turned out to be a really good opportunity and a good learning experience. If you had told me before the race, that there are going to be that many days of rain, I maybe would have been a bit less excited, but it's still now looking back on the race. I'm really glad I got to do it."

Nowhere was his high potential more evident than on the penultimate stage of the Giro d'Italia when Riccitello sat for a time in the hot seat of the brutal individual time-trial on Monte Lussari, eventually finishing 11th overall as Primoz Roglic sealed the overall race win.

"I knew where I was starting and made it a goal to be on the hot seat," Riccitello said. "I thought there was a good chance that I could do it. When I finished I was excited to be on the hot seat, but I didn't really know how my time would stack up against the rest of the GC guys. I was pretty satisfied with the result. I didn't feel like I had gotten a good chance to really put in a good ride, so it was just a good feeling."

"I was in a good position and wanted to do a really good time - but I also didn't have to stress about losing a place or gaining a place on the general classification," he continues. "I just wanted to put in a good effort on the last day of the race, and I wasn't too, too stressed. Going into it, I was just more excited."