May 24/17 14:29 pm - Giro d'Italia: Stage 17, Woods 9th

Posted by Editoress on 05/24/17
 

Pierre Rolland puts an end to a long drought as he rolled out to claim the victory he sought throughout many attacks.

Mike Woods was part of a large group (40+) that went away before 40 km, and stayed away to the finish. The group split up over the major climb of the day (Passo del Tonale) and then came somewhat back together on the long drop that took the peloton across the Val di Sole. The route went up again in the second half: first came the Giovo summit and another split and loss of riders (down to 20 riders), then  a long false flat up, leading all the way to the finish that made the final selection, that include Woods. Rolland attacked with 8 km to go and stayed clear.

Tom Dumoulin retained the Maglia Rosa after being threatened by the presence of Jan Polanç in the winning move.

Pierre Rolland said: “I woke up at 5am yesterday because I was very excited ahead of the Stelvio stage. This is my reason for being a cyclist, I love the history of my sport: this is the 100th Giro d’Italia. I love the great stages like yesterday’s. Unfortunately I had a bad day and I wondered if the good form I had at the beginning of the Giro was on the down but it wasn’t the case. Today, I felt great. I expected to perform yesterday or tomorrow but I decided to ride today as if there wasn’t any race tomorrow. Everyone was tired from the Stelvio stage. It was one of the hardest I’ve ever done. It was a question of courage today. Last winter I went to Colorado to discuss my season with Jonathan Vaughters, my team manager who is also my coach now, and we decided that I’d do the Giro and the Tour for stage wins. This is the kind of cycling that I truly like, more than racing for GC, which is stressful and doesn’t leave many opportunities to enjoy the racing. This sport is too hard for not having fun doing it. I enjoyed cycling a lot today!”

Tom Dumoulin, said: “ I felt a bit insecure this morning. I was a little bit worried but I was completely fine during the whole stage. I knew it was a very long way from the second climb till the finish. I would have been very surprised if any GC rider tried to go from far out. Bahrain-Merida tried at the start, they did a good job because we had to work more than we hoped for. There could be attacks from the start tomorrow, we have to be ready for everything. I’m not here to make history for shitting in the bushes, I’m here to write history for taking the pink jersey to Milan.”

Mike Woods (Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling Team) finished 9th on the stage and has moved up to 34th in GC.

Results