"I wasted a lot of energy there": Giulio Ciccone annoyed by Decathlon's refusal to leave stage 9 to breakaway

Giulio Ciccone hung around in the general classification for a while during the first week of Giro d'Italia, even enjoying a brief feature in the pink jersey after stage 4, but eventually dropped out during stage 8 to improve his odds of a breakaway success. And immediately the very next day, Ciccone set out to follow his goal with a daring attack in middle of Sunday's stage.

Ciccone attacked alongside Diego Ulissi and Toon Aerts on a short uphill section with 75 kilometers to go. And even though Aerts didn't help his two breakaway companions make the bridge to early breakaway, Ciccone and Ulissi succeeded in their goal.

Much of that thanks to tall German Max Walscheid who dropped back from breakaway to help Ciccone cut off a large part of the leaders' advantage, even though his assistance was not enough to bridge the gap completely - something that dissatisfied Ciccone afterwards:

"Even today they didn't want to let me ride," Ciccone said in a conversation with Eurosport, referring to the fact that he dropped out of the top of the general classification on Saturday, voluntatily losing 5 minutes.

But the advantage of escapees, either with or without Ciccone in the group, never grew much past the two-minute mark due to the committed work of Decathlon CMA CGM Team who have put their faith in Blockhaus runner-up Felix Gall.

"The Decathlon guys kept bringing me back," Ciccone was frustrated about the stage start when he wanted to get up the road with an early move which wasn't allowed by the French team: "I wasted a lot of energy there by trying so often."

Although it was to no avail, Ciccone did not let his head hang. Later in the stage, he jumped to the leading group with a few other riders. "I had nothing to lose and I made the crossing on the small climb. That effort also demanded a lot from me."

As the leaders arrived to the foot of Corno alle Scale with only a small advantage over peloton, Ciccone wasted no time to immediately take off from the group with only Einer Rubio able to keep up with the Italian's pace. But Ciccone knew he needed to ride to the top faster in order to keep GC favourites away, so he attacked one more time to leave the Colombian behind 8 kilometers from the finish line.

"I still felt strong and I gave it my all. However, the lead was too small," Ciccone analyzed. "I also felt the earlier efforts in my legs. It was a good attempt."

Despite the setback, Ciccone is already looking ambitiously ahead to the remainder of the Giro with muliple possible goals in mind, ranging from stage wins to mountain classification.

"Perhaps if there is climbing from the start, it will be easier for me to escape. Moreover, it will be harder for the peloton to control the race. In any case, it will be more favorable for me," concludes Ciccone.