<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a helluva sport, this. You\u2019re up, you\u2019re down, you\u2019re close, you\u2019re far. And then one day: bingo. (Yes, Italians call bingo \u201cbingo.\u201d)<\/p>\n
After years of crashes, disappointments and near misses at the Giro d\u2019Italia, Giulio Ciccone finally experienced the moment he had imagined since childhood: pulling on the maglia rosa. Imagine being an Italian pro finally putting on the pink jersey. Magical.<\/p>\n
The 31-year-old Lidl-Trek rider took the race lead Tuesday thanks to bonus seconds collected at both the intermediate sprint and the finish, capping off what he called an emotional day.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an incredible feeling. I dreamed about this as a kid,\u201d Ciccone said after the stage. \u201cThe reason I started cycling was to one day wear the pink jersey.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ciccone admitted he had not expected the opportunity to come together so perfectly after several difficult editions of the Giro. His team went into the day with a plan to chase bonus seconds if the stage stayed selective rather than ending in a full bunch sprint.
That scenario played out, with Ciccone twice finishing third in key sprints, enough to move into the overall lead.<\/p>\n
Now in pink for the first time, the Italian hopes to keep the jersey through the upcoming mountain stages and into Friday\u2019s summit finish at Blockhaus in his native Abruzzo.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, his teammate, national champion Derek Gee, finished in the reduced bunch and moved up a few spots, but still sits more than a minute back in 30th overall. The Osgoode, Ont. rider did have some problems, a flat at the wrong time,\u00a0 but managed to fight his way back.<\/p>\n
The other Canuck in La Corsa Rosa<\/em>, Sainte-Lucie-des-Laurentides, Que.\u2019s Nickolas Zukowsky of Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team, finished 65th in the next group, about 2:55 down. It\u2019s highly probable you\u2019ll see the team workhorse in a break soon \u2026 and maybe one of his trademark long-range moves will finally stick. The dude has been riding exceptionally well this year and clearly has the legs for something big.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, in other CanCon analysis, Ciccone is hardly a slouch when it comes to stage racing, so Lidl-Trek suddenly has a few options. Gee, presumably, can now sit in a bit while the team defends pink, with the Canadian still the bigger overall GC card. But time will tell what direction the squad takes.<\/p>\n The Canuck didn\u2019t have the best start to the Giro, crashing on Stage 2. Still, there\u2019s a reason it\u2019s called a Grand Tour \u2026 there are a lotta stages.<\/p>\n