Giro d'Italia - Dario Cataldo: This morning I couldn't even imagine the day would end like this
May 27 2019 03:42 am CET
Astana
Dario Cataldo took the victory of the 15th stage of the Giro d'Italia. The Italian rider of Astana was the fastest of the two-man escape in Como.
After a few days of illness, Cataldo joined Mattia Cattaneo in the breakaway of the day. After a tough and long day, the rider showed to have the better legs and sprinted to take the first victory in the Corsa Rosa of his career.
"I still can’t believe in it!" he commented at the end of the stage. "Today in the morning I could not even think the day would end like this! For a few days, I was sick but still tried to fight on in this race to provide my best to the team and our leader Miguel Angel Lopez.
"In the team, we all stay together, we all work for one goal, riders, staff, directors, all our sponsors, our partner Samruk Kazyna... We have one goal and everyone is trying to do his best for that. So, despite I did not feel good in the morning, I went out to the start with an aim to give my best."
The Italian duo took an advantage of more than twelve minutes over the peloton and at the end of the stage, Cataldo and Cattaneo crossed the finish line eleven seconds ahead of Simon Yates and Richard Carapaz.
"There were many attacks in the group from the start, and in a moment I attacked together with Mattia Cattaneo. A bit later we realized we are only two in front, we decided to push hard as long as possible to see if we could break away. In the end, the peloton gave us space and we started to work more regular. We worked really well together. Anyway, it was a super long a hard day and despite a big gap we had, the peloton still had a chance to catch us. The last climb Civiglio was a tough one.
"Cattaneo tried twice to drop me, but every time I had legs to answer. I was afraid of these attacks, but, hopefully, I was able to follow it. I knew I have better chances in the sprint, so even he left me to lead out our group inside the final two kilometres, I just did it, because there was no place to play the games since the chasers were close. Anyway, I preferred to launch my sprint from the first position and it worked out perfectly! That’s something amazing to win a stage of the Giro d’Italia! I am so happy!"
SUBSCRIBE TO RSS FEEDS