"Sooner or later, I will succeed": Maestri and Marcellusi react to heartbreak as Dversnes wins shocking Giro stage in Milan

A classic Grand Tour surprise unfolded on Sunday as the sprinters completely misjudged the breakaway, allowing a four-man group to stay clear and fight for glory on the streets of Milan during stage 15 of the Giro d'Italia. Norwegian rider Frederik Dversnes of Uno-X Mobility ultimately powered to an unexpected victory, outsprinting his three Italian breakaway companions.

The breakaway managed to hold off the charging peloton primarily because the four frontrunners refused to play tactical games in the final kilometers, keeping the pace high right into the final stretch. Mirco Maestri could even count on a direct leadout from his Polti VisitMalta teammate Mattia Bais, but he simply couldn't hold off the explosive kick of Dversnes.

"Mattia actually put me in the ideal position to win today, but this time I probably just wasn't the strongest," Maestri admitted after the finish. "Maybe I waited a bit too long to launch. That’s the only blame I can put on myself. But the moment will come. I gave everything, we gave everything. I felt like I was carrying the whole team and the sponsors on my shoulders. Sooner or later, I will succeed."

For Maestri, the second place finish is a bitter pill to swallow, especially since he came very close to a home Grand Tour stage win last year as well. Despite the disappointment, the Italian remains highly optimistic about his aggressive racing style.

“We’ve been getting close for so long now. I once read something that said bumblebees aren’t actually aerodynamically made to fly, but they do it anyway," Maestri shared. "In my own way, I’m trying to become like that bumblebee, and eventually, I will win that stage. Today, we all thought the same thing in the final kilometer: it's better that the strongest wins rather than messing it up for each other by playing poker. And today, that Norwegian guy was just the strongest.”

Rounding out the podium was Martin Marcellusi, who secured a massive third place finish for Bardiani CSF 7 Saber. The 26-year-old is a familiar face in the daily breakaways, and he was thrilled to see his relentless attacking finally yield a massive result on a day that everyone assumed was destined for a bunch sprint.

“It’s a disappointment only to a certain extent," Marcellusi said. "I knew that Mirco and Dversnes were a bit faster, and in the final kilometers, I could see they were pedaling better than me. We pulled off a absolute masterpiece today because we went full gas from the very start of the breakaway, and I didn't think we could sustain that rhythm all the way to the finish line."

For Marcellusi, crossing the line ahead of the peloton was the ultimate vindication for his aggressive racing philosophy. "We managed to do it, and this third place is a huge morale booster," he concluded. "Every now and then people call me crazy because I jump into the breakaway even when it seems completely pointless, but today it completely paid off."