Giulio Ciccone proud of Lidl-Trek: "My attack also helped Derek"

Giulio Ciccone finished third in the queen stage of the Giro d'Italia. The Italian started the final climb with a lead but was overtaken by Sepp Kuss and teammate Derek Gee-West. However, he took over the blue mountains jersey from Jonas Vingegaard. After the stage, Ciccone shared his story with Cycling Pro Net.

"I am happy with this stage," began the climber from Lidl-Trek. "It really hurt, it was full gas from start to finish. I think we had a plan as a team and we rode a great stage. Yes, we finish second and third. We might be a little disappointed to miss out on the win, but as a team we can be super proud because we did an amazing job."

Ciccone said he did a lot of work at the front to give Gee-West a bigger gap, but could the two teammates have handled the finale differently to win the stage? "Well, I attacked on the descent and then there was a strong headwind in the valley. I thought that was a good move for Derek too because it let him stay on the wheels."

"I don’t know exactly what happened behind me because I was at the front and I haven’t watched the stage back yet. But yes, I saw Kuss coming past at double speed, there was just nothing you could do," Ciccone smiled. "At the same time, I saw Derek keep a high tempo, but I was completely à bloc myself. So he rode straight through and finished second."

Issue with Rubio
At the top of the penultimate climb, Ciccone had a bit of an issue with Einer Rubio. The Colombian snatched the mountain points right in front of the Italian, who hoped those points would secure him the virtual lead. What exactly happened there? "You would have to ask him what happened because I had nothing against him. Apparently he had a problem with me after that Red Bull kilometer."

"But I couldn’t do anything about that Red Bull kilometer. Today it was about the GC contenders sitting there, with Gee, Storer and all those guys. I don’t know what his problem with me was, but apparently he really wanted to win that Red Bull kilometer. Then he sprinted right in front of me for the mountain points."

"I wasn’t ready for it, I didn’t expect him to sprint like that without a clear reason because there really was no reason. Those points were actually pure gold for me because I’m the only one really fighting for that jersey. I don’t think third place in that classification can still win. I don’t think so. So he did that sprint... and now I think we just have to ask him if he’s happy with it."