🎙️«Hoy salí con la mentalidad de si se podía hacer diferencias. Sobre el puerto anterior me vi un poco solo, pero bueno gracias a Nairo que ahí me dio unos geles porque realmente estaba ya sin nada» -Daniel Martínez sobre la etapa 17 del #GirodItalia
"Thanks to Nairo Quintana who gave me some gels" - Daniel Martinez relies on support on compatriot with BORA - hansgrohe teammates dropped on stage 17 of Giro d'Italia
CyclingWednesday, 22 May 2024 at 18:16
Stage 17 of the Giro d'Italia 2024 ended with a win for Georg Steinhauser from the breakaway. However, on the final ascent to the Passo Brocon there was much to comment on regarding the fight for the Top 10 in the GC and especially in the fight between Daniel Martinez and Geraint Thomas for 2nd behind Tadej Pogacar.
Post-stage, Martinez revealed how he was thankful for the help of compatriot Nairo Quintana on the final climb after all his BORA - hansgrohe teammates were dropped. The Movistar Team star offered his countryman some gels when Martinez was running out of gas and whilst the INEOS Grenadiers were starting to try and take control of the stage."Today I went out with the mentality of whether I could make a difference. On the previous pass I was a little lonely, but thanks to Nairo who gave me some gels because I was already without anything," Martinez explains.
On the final climb, it was Martinez who attacked first in the Maglia Rosa group. However, Pogacar easily matched and then accelerated past him, with the Slovenian finishing second behind Steinhauser and gaining more time overall. Behind the runaway winner, Martinez and a small group of rivals, including Thomas, Einer Rubio, Antonio Tiberi and Romain Bardet, were able to cross the finish line alongside each other.
"At the end, when I saw that INEOS was trying to control the race and that the gap was increasing, I thought at one point that maybe they wanted to set a pace so that no one would attack," recalls the former INEOS man of the final climb. "When I heard that Ben O'Connor was struggling and Geraint Thomas only had Thymen Arensman left, I decided to try something and see how it went. But hey, we gave it a go, and now to think about Saturday."
On Saturday, the Giro d'Italia will face its penultimate stage and the final fight between the overall riders. Daniel Martinez's mind is already focused there, as he confirms to conclude his statements of the day. It will be a very hard day, with perhaps the hardest final climb of the entire Corsa Rosa: "There we will have a pretty hard climb, I think the hardest of all this Giro. So we remain concentrated and focused on what we want".
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- Wrong, CrashJames. Frankie a ringleader of the Motorola doping scheme along with Armstrong. Armstrong made his career. And Lemond--you are still clinging to his miracle of "iron injections"? Bless your heart.
MarkFour25-11-2024 - Wrong. Bassons himself said that leaving pro cycling was the best thing that ever happened to him. You don't belong in these comments, or anywhere near a bike.MarkFour25-11-2024
- Agree, it is incomplete to omit the doped peloton. Lance was just better at it, a bigger liar, and vindictively went after people to protect the secret. Look how many results had to be restated, where other riders were also stripped of their results, and the problems ex us postal riders faced because their doping programs were not as good as postal. Why we continue to spend any time on this a$$h0le is beyond me.Crashjames25-11-2024
- Frankie Andrew, Greg lemond,Crashjames25-11-2024
- Christophe Bassons is one of many names. If you don’t that story, you don’t belong in these comments.PhilRidesBikes25-11-2024
- Not all riders in the peloton were using drugs, or using them to the same degree. Plenty of books published from cyclists saying they didn’t all get access to the same stuff whether they wanted it or not. Christophe Basons is just one of many who were outcast for not joining the program. Many new young riders were sent home if they didn’t abide by Lances rules. Andy Hampsten is another clean rider who refused to dope.PhilRidesBikes25-11-2024
- Lance lied, cheated, & destroyed lives during his entire cycling career. He claimed to enter the sport as a clean athlete, but there is evidence was already well into using banned substances as a triathlete. Lance is still lying about his use of banned substances & blood transfusions during his return to competition with Astana team.PhilRidesBikes25-11-2024
- I still can't believe how her teammates treated her that day. Her teammate literally sideswiped her and took her out and then after the race, the teammate claimed that she saw something yellow fall but she kept riding because she was going for the stage win (but finished 8th in the sprint). What the actual heck...Pogboom25-11-2024
- Many other drugs cheats also had no empathy.awp25-11-2024
- See if you can name one person whose career Lance Armstrong destroyed. Just one.MarkFour25-11-2024