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And in its final days, this unpredictable Giro d’Italia casts a surprisingly familiar plot. The old tropes repeat themselves endlessly in the pink feverbut somehow they always feel new. Wilco Kelderman took over the pink jersey at Laghi di Cancano on Thursday but his teammate Jai Hindley won the stage and was by some distance the strongest of the Sunweb duo in the Giro’s most rigorously impartial referee, the Passo. dello Stelvio.
In the overall standings, Hindley is just 12 seconds behind his leader, with three stages remaining. The end of the summit in Sestriere on Saturday favors the Australian. The final short time trial in Milan the next day benefits Kelderman. As with Roche and Visentini, Simoni and Cunego, and every other team rivalry in race history, an obvious question arises: who’s the boss?
“Can I win this Giro? Oh, I think realistically it’s pretty tough for me right now. One, because I want Wilco Kelderman to win, and two, my time trial isn’t particularly good at the moment,” Hindley said after taking seat next to Kelderman in the press conference truck behind the podium. “Like I’ve said from the beginning, I’m here for Wilco. He’s in pink and I want him to win.”
Kelderman, for his part, declared his satisfaction at taking the Pink sweater of former leader João Almeida (Deceuninck-QuickStep), but confessed with some bewilderment that Sunweb had not ordered Hindley, who started the day almost three minutes late, to wait for him on top of the Stelvio.
Instead, the Australian stalked Tao Geoghegan Hart (Grenadiers of Ineos) to the windswept summit, down the icy descent into the valley, and then back up the tight hairpins toward Laghi di Cancano. Hindley won the stage sprint, but Kelderman expressed concern that Geoghegan Hart is now third overall, just 15 seconds behind.
“I think it sure was better if [Hindley] I waited, then I was further ahead in the overall, “Kelderman said.” But he won the stage here, and now we are both close overall, so you can see him from both sides. For me, it may be less good, but now we are both close to the general.
Sunweb’s intensity from the base of the Stelvio saw Almeida distance himself from the front group around the midpoint of the climb, along with greats like Vincenzo Nibali (Trek-Segafredo). However, when Rohan Dennis took over the reins from Geoghegan Hart, Kelderman showed signs of discomfort and eventually loosened his grip on the wheels with 7km of fearsome climb to go. Hindley followed the leaders, while Kelderman was left to his own devices, battling the mountain to get to the top, 45 seconds down.
That gap expanded into the valley before the final climb and briefly looked like he was going to yawn inexorably as Kelderman’s pedaling drastically slowed down the first few ramps to Laghi di Cancano. Kelderman managed to straighten his course enough to take the Pink sweater, though he continued to send time to the finish, reaching the lakes at the top in fifth place on the stage, 2:18 down.
“We talked yesterday on stage. We wanted to go full blast all day to drop Almeida at the Stelvio and we did it,” Kelderman said. “Ineos was quite strong as a team. I couldn’t follow them, but Jai could. I would have loved to have him back with me to pull the valley, but the team had different plans.”
Team strategy
Kelderman was the first Sunweb rider to reach the press conference truck after arrival, but there were no signs of tension as Hindley sat next to him and jokingly corrected a reporter who mispronounced his name as ‘Jay’ in a question to Pink sweater. When asked if he feared Hindley, Kelderman said: “He’s doing really well, but so far I’m pretty good overall and I’m still confident in the next TT.”
After Kelderman went for his doping control, Hindley was asked if Pink sweaterBora-Hansgrohe’s imminent departure in 2021 could influence any decision about Sunweb’s hierarchy en route to Sestriere on Saturday. Hindley’s answer was to the point.
“Dude, he’s in the pink shirt. I’m going to risk my ass for him, no matter where I go next year,” Hindley said. “I also really like Wilco, and I know the shit he’s been through in his career with injuries. I respect him as a man and as a rider, and I want him to win this race.”
And still, and still. At Piancavallo last Sunday and here again, Hindley pedaled with an ease that seemed to confirm Nibali’s assessment that he is the strongest rider in the race. The 24-year-old stage winner played down the idea when it was brought up, but surely he must suspect it’s true.
“The strongest? I don’t know, man. That’s a pretty big decision,” Hindley said. “I’m definitely here with the shape of my life and I’m quite happy with how I feel.”
Before the stage, Hindley was given the task of tagging Geoghegan Hart by Sunweb, and he fulfilled his tenure to the letter, following the Briton to the finish at Laghi di Cancano.
“It’s not the way I like to run, but I knew Wilco was in the back and he would probably put the jersey on so he wasn’t going to shoot,” Hindley said. “Also, Tao did the exact same thing to me a week ago [at Piancavallo]So if you want it to happen, you should have taken a turn a week ago. I didn’t ask him to shoot. That’s the way it is.”
When the Giro d’Italia departed from Palermo on October 3, few could have anticipated that the last men remaining ahead of the final weekend would be Kelderman, Hindley and Geoghegan Hart. Given everything that has happened up to this point, it seems equally dangerous to bet on their final podium positions in Piazza Duomo on Sunday night.
“I think that’s the beauty of bike racing, uh, you never know what’s going to happen,” Hindley said, adding carefully: “But Wilco does a good time trial so I’m sure he can do the trick. job”.
