Giulio Ciccone attentive of queen stage featuring Col de la Loze: "Tomorrow will be the decisive day in the KOM classification"

Giulio Ciccone successfully defended and even increased his lead in the KOM classification as he snatched the only KOM sprint that was available in the mountainous stage 16 ITT by having the fastest ascend time by mere seconds ahead of flying Jonas Vingegaard.

"It was a big day today, although it was a tricky one because every stage after a rest day can be complicated. My strategy was to take it easy and then go full gas on the climb, as I knew Powless would do the same and he could well take the polka dot jersey off my shoulders. Luckily, it worked out well for me. Overall, it’s been a nice day."

"Jonas Vingegaard has been amazing. I only beat him by 3 seconds, and I just did the climb while he was full gas for the whole ITT! Tomorrow will be the decisive day in the KOM classification. My plan is to be in the break and fight for the points while keeping an eye on the possibility of a stage win. I know it will be hard for me to take this polka dot jersey home. I need to really study the race in depth to craft the best possible strategy."