Domenico Pozzovivo: "My result exceeds my expectations"

Domenico Pozzovivo came as a wildcard to this Giro d'Italia, and at Blockhaus he gave the best signs he could've expected as he finished alongside the best riders in the day, to climb onto the Top10 of the overall classification and possibly hoping for more.

"I'm very satisfied with this sixth place! This morning, I imagined finishing among the ten best riders but in the end my result exceeds my expectations," Pozzovivo said after the finish. As many struggled on the day, the 39-year old thrived with a performance above the expectations of most. The Intermarché - Wanty - Gobert Matériaux was in the leading group until the very end, riding together with João Almeida and Jai Hindley in the final kilometers. 

"Today, I believed in the stage win, even though I was not the most explosive rider in the leading group. The race scenario was perfect for me, we raced on our limits until the final kilometer," he added. For brief moments a stage win seemed possible as he entered the final sprint in the wheel of Jai Hindley, however he shed three seconds as it proved an effort too explosive for the veteran.

After only having signed a contract in mid-February, it comes as a huge result for Pozzovivo, whose GC ambitions are now very real as he now sits eighth in the overall classification - 54 seconds down on Juan Pedro López. "Thanks to this performance I am again one step closer to my main goal which is a top ten in the final classification," he added.

"We were leading the team classification after eight race days, a new experience for the team in a Grand Tour, and we showed that we perform strong collectively in the mountains with four riders in the peloton of favorites halfway through the final climb. In 2022 we continue to break records and I'm determined to contribute to this," Pozzovivo concluded.