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NOT ACCORDING TO PLAN
The Giro team reflects on the season's first grand tour.
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WE WERE SUPPOSED TO WIN.
As much as anyone is ever supposed to win in sport. The work had been done on Tenerife. Rigoberto had two second-place finishes under his belt and a team that was dedicated to him. Winning the Giro was the primary objective. We weren’t shy about that. But three weeks later, it didn’t go down like that. Illness rippled through the team, a crash at the wrong moment (there’s never a right moment) and lost time had us fighting to get back into the top 10. It’s a timeless lesson; no one is ever guaranteed a win — it takes the right legs and luck. Rigoberto battled back for a seventh on GC. And we were competitive until the last moments of the race. Neither the riders nor the staff left with their heads down. Here’s what they had to say about the 2016 Giro — a beautiful race to be a part of and a beautiful race to watch.
—Matthew Beaudin, Cannondale Pro Cycling Team communications director
To read the complete story, click here.
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JOE DOMBROWSKI - 3rd stage 20
Obviously it’s about winning, but it’s not always all about winning. To be honest, I tried almost every mountain day to win a stage. I was always up there in the mix and it never panned out. Regarding stage 20, yeah, I’m bummed. I thought I was the strongest on the climbs, but I didn’t win. Home roads, my friends and family were here, and I really wanted to win. |
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RAMUNAS NAVARDAUSKAS
The hardest moment was stage 19. We had this flat part. We needed to try to get into the breakaways. You attack. You try to make the correct group. And then we hit the mountains... |
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NATE BROWN - 4th stage 10
I came into the Giro knowing I was doing it a week before it started. I hadn’t mentally prepped for it. So just to get through this Giro, to get fourth on a stage? I’m super excited about that. |
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MORENO MOSER - 2nd stage 18, 3rd stage 8
Everyone knew that the race today was on the climb of Pramartino. Ramunas helped me a lot to be there with the group all together and not waste energy. Me and Brambilla knew we were the strongest on the climb. |
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ANDRE CARDOSO
The hardest moment was when Rigo crashed in the TT. Our team worked a lot for this Giro, and then we saw Rigo in a bad moment, bad luck that day. That was the worst moment for me. |
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SPORT DIRECTOR - FABRIZIO GUIDI
I‘m pleased with this Giro. We showed incredible teamwork. To arrive here with nine guys, to arrive here in the top ten, to arrive here with the youngest team. To arrive here with such commitment — for me it‘s a great result. I hope you bring this with you for the future. When you have a great experience like this and you can share it with another - this is how you improve spirit. Team spirit.
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SIMON CLARKE
Personally I had no result, but the priority for me here was to look after the guys and make sure we looked after Rigo. He didn’t have any mishaps on my watch. It was more the sickness that was the telling factor. |
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RIGOBERTO URAN - 7th overall
Because the whole Giro, it was always teamwork. Always together. We were in the first group, in the second group. Everybody was focused. Everybody was ready. Always in the breakaway. We tried to win a stage. I’m happy with the team. |
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SPORT DIRECTOR - BINGEN FERNANDEZ
We came with the idea to win the pink jersey, but you know, sometimes you have the idea, then the road puts you in your place. |
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ALBERTO BETTIOL
Teamwork comes to mind. The team members. This is my first grand tour, and I’m very proud to be part of this great team. And I don’t mean only riders. I mean the whole staff. I’ll remember for sure all these great people. |
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DAVIDE FORMOLO
What do I love about the Giro? The people. The atmosphere. The team, The feeling in the race. The fans are so friendly, and everywhere I am, I feel like I’m home. Everybody is always supporting me really well. Sometimes it’s unbelievable if I’m in grupetto, when they see me that say, ‘Oh! Formolino Formolino!’ and they love me, no?
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fi'zi:k
For a chance to win 10 rolls of Superlight Soft Touch Bar:tape with fi'zi:k logos, answer the following question:
Q: How many teams were riding on fi'zi:k saddles at the 2016 Giro d'Italia? (Hint: the answer can be found within a post on fi'zi:k's Facebook page within the last week.)
Submit your answer to contest@slipstreamsports.com for your chance to win. The winner will be randomly drawn from all correct answers.
Please note that all emails addresses used for this contest will be submitted to fi'zi:k for subscription to their newsletter. |
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Peter Sagan isn’t the only roadie who’s racing on the dirt this season. Our Toms Skujins is aiming for the podium at the European Mountain Bike Continental Championships XCM in Latvia this weekend.
Toms says: “My first races in cycling were on a mountain bike and still every year when I'm home I do one or two races, just to keep my bike handling skills in check and go back from where I started. There are a lot more MTB races in Latvia then road races and it's definitely more popular. As one of the riders people have heard about more so then most it's nice to do a local race, so people can actually see me, talk to me and in so maybe motivate them even more to get into cycling/sport or just a healthy life style in general. This year Latvia gets to host the European MTB marathon championships in the town where I was born, so I talked to the team and Cannondale. They agreed to help me out and let me prepare for the race, so I can give it a crack.”
Check out Toms' course preview complete with data overlay here.
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Cannondale Pro Cycling Team for Criterium du Dauphiné 2016:
Jack Bauer
Andre Cardoso
Alex Howes
Ben King
Sebastian Langeveld
Pierre Rolland
Tom-Jelte Slagter
Dylan Van Baarle
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