"I was too empty to sprint" - Marius Mayrhofer disappointed with 7th placed finish on stage 14 at the Giro d'Italia

Marius Mayrhofer battled hard in the breakaway of stage 14 of the 2023 Giro d'Italia to stay in contact for victory. Sadly for him however, his energy was depleted so much he was unable to sprint in the finale.

“I managed to get in the breakaway, which was a big group, unfortunately. It was raining the whole day and it was cold, so it was horrible weather again," the 22-year-old German recaps to the official website of Team DSM. "The break split up and four guys attacked, but we managed to chase them down to one minute. For the last 20 kilometres, it was full on with a lot of corners and climbs. I went all out to catch the guys and we caught them with 600 metres to go, but I was too empty to sprint. So a disappointing finish, but will bounce back the next time.”

Nico Denz was the eventual winner, taking his second win of this year's edition of the Giro. Nevertheless, Team DSM coach Luke Roberts is happy with the showing of Mayrhofer and the whole of the Team DSM lineup.

“We hoped to put Marius in the breakaway today as we knew it would be a good stage for him. He did a good job to get into that group. Eventually, Marius had to rely on some other teams to close down the gap with three leaders who attacked. Marius did a good ride from there as he picked the right guys to move with," Roberts says. "He got a good strong group working and could close the gap with those three riders in the final. It was the first time Marius was in a situation like that and I think he learned a lot there from some experienced riders who know how to play this game. Unfortunately, Marius didn’t have the legs for a sprint, but it was great to see him putting himself back in the race. For sure, the next time he will go for the win!”