Giro del Trentino Conclusions

By David Hunter

So Cadel rolled back the clock, taking his first stage race win since the Criterium in 2012. His team won the opening TTT and he also claimed stage 2, enroute to a brilliant win. As preparation goes for the Giro, Cadel looks in great form.

He stands a good chance of challenging for the podium in a couple of weeks. Special mention must go to teammate, Steve Morabito. Cadel has been let down by his team in the past, but the Suisse rider was outstanding, staying at the front of the peloton in the high mountains. He’ll be very important in the Giro.

Bardiani CSF finally got their first win of the season, after many podiums, but it wasn’t Pirazzi or Bongiorno, but Edoardo Zardini. The young Italian, attacked early on the final climb in stage 2 and comfortably held on.

Astana showed us that they will have a 3 prong approach in the Giro. They will easily have the strongest team, with Scarponi, Aru and Landa all in good form. This should give them the advantage in some of the mountain stages. In particular, Aru and Landa looked in great form, with the Spaniard taking the win on the iconic Monte Bondone. They will all be looking forward to the Giro.

Rounding out the podium we had Pozzovivo and Niemiec. The Italian is looking good but is clearly behind Evans in form, but he’ll hope to do better in a couple of weeks.

Niemiec struggled on the very steep slopes of stage 3, but was an equal to Evans and Pozzovivo on the longer climbs. The Pole seems to ready to challenge for the top 5 in the Giro.

Duarte and Meintjes should be very pleased with themselves with strong performances and the future looks bright for these riders.

A final mention for Franco Pellizotti. A good performance on Bondone and the veteran looks ready for the Giro.

David Hunter

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