Domenico Pozzovivo has just this week made his debut in the 2023 season at the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali, and he has already came very close to winning. That wasn't without a lot of drama on stage 3, as he tells an unhappy situation early in the stage.
“I was furious! I used that as fuel," Pozzovivo said in a post-race interview. He and a lot of the peloton was caught behind a split after a crash early in the day. After this, the pace was pushed out front. "It's completely inappropriate what they did. I would have waited. It was just after the start. A few years ago this would not have been possible, but morale in the peloton seems to have changed.”
It was however a situation which was later in the day fixed. Pozzovivo, who had until today shown modest form, flew up the unpaved 15% climb that marked the day the most, making the decisive attack himself. “I felt that everyone was on the limit, so I attacked," he said. He was joined by EF Education-EasyPost duo of Ben Healy (who eventually won the stage) and Mark Padun.
"Who would have thought that I would take a podium place so quickly? It turns out my mind is just as strong as my body and I don't think I'm done here yet," he concluded. Starting stage 4, the 40-year old is sixth in the overall classification, 37 seconds behind Mauro Schmid.
Pozzovivo on his performance today - “I am pleased because gravel is not my strongest surface, and I gave it everything right up to the end. I didn’t beat Ben in the sprint, but after only 3 days of racing I have to be very happy with second place!” __ 🇮🇹 #CoppieBartali #YallaIPT
