Four Top-10 finishes were achieved in the first week of the Giro d’Italia. Great performances made possible by a great team spirit and full commitment by everyone involved.
14.05.2024
The first highlight was delivered by Michael Storer, finishing 6th on Santuario di Oropa (Stage 2) followed by a9th place on Prati di Tivo (Stage 8), both mountain top finishes. The Aussie is happy with the first week of his second Giro d’Italia and believes he found the key to his performance: “I could get these results, because I was steady with my effort. Compared to other riders, I preferred to go steady and not follow all the attacks at the front of the race, taking the risk of blowing up. I am really happy with the two mountain stages; it gives me extra motivation. It shows that all the hard work is paying off. The Top-10 in GC are not far, but we’ll see day by day how the race develops.”
Alberto Dainese delivered two more Top-10 results in bunch sprints. Working for the first time together with his leadout train due to injuries earlier in the season, the chemistry within the train has improved throughout the week. The Italian thinks, that “the structure is there, and we are closer to achieving something big”. After a challenging beginning of the season, the shape is good and improving, giving hope as he usually performs better in the second half of Grand Tours.
The Sport Directors are content with the performance and behavior of the team in the first week: “The first nine days of this Giro were more than great for us! We are very happy with the team spirit and the results. We could have achieved something more, but we don’t want to look back now. The sprints have always been different one from the other and were quite hectic: Alberto did well, and the recent 4th place keeps the morale up for the next sprints. Michael has shown great performances on theclimbs, and we’ll see day by day how to go on.”
Unfortunately, we lost two important people to our team. While Alex Krieger crashed on Stage 9 and suffered multiple fractures (pelvis, ribs, scapula), Marius Mayrhofer could not start after the first rest day due to gastrointestinal problems.
The second week has just started. It is time to begin the return towards the North of the country with plenty of stages perfectly suited for the team.