At the end of the 17.4 kilometer individual time trial through the streets of Verona this Sunday, team Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux concluded its second Giro d’Italia in its history.
Czech rider Jan Hirt and Italian rider Domenico Pozzovivo respectively finished in sixth and eighth position in the general classification, enabling the Belgian team to end with two riders in the top ten of the final classification.
It is the first time that the team is represented in the top ten in a Grand Tour. The most recent reference result was the eleventh place of Odd Christian Eiking in the Vuelta 2021.
In addition to these performances, the team directed by Valerio Piva and Steven De Neef leaves with two stage victories, six podium finishes and twelve times top ten achieved by five different riders and a fourth place in the team classification.
At the age of 31, Jan Hirt ends a Grand Tour in the top ten for the first time in his career. Exactly one week after the victory of Biniam Girmay in Jesi, the Czech climber won the queen stage in the Alps, in which the mythical Passo del Mortirolo had to be covered.
Italian 39 year old Domenico Pozzovivo finished in the top ten of the Giro for the seventh time in his career. The Italian rider is the oldest rider in the top ten of the Giro since Giovanni Rossignoli in 1924.
Belgian rider Aimé De Gendt concluded his first Tour of Italy, just like Hungarian rider Barnabás Peák, who participated in a three week race for the first time.
Estonian rider Rein Taaramäe and Italian rider Lorenzo Rota attacked multiple times and both took a stage podium, on the Etna and in Genova respectively.
« It was a dream to win a stage in the Giro. I didn't only make this dream come true, I also finished sixth in the general classification. I rode the race of my life, that's for sure! I was very concentrated for this time trial. Thanks to my good performance, I finish this Giro only 26 seconds down on fourth place. Not many Czech riders achieved this before me, so I hope that I inspired some compatriots to start riding a bike. Last year, I rediscovered my love for cycling within Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert and that's the key to my success. It is important to be surrounded by the right people. A good and nice environment facilitates the road to success. I don't dare to think about the next step, about what I'm capable of, but those 26 seconds motivate me a lot to come back for more next season! »
« Knowing where I come from, I can only be happy with this GC top ten. I was only one step away from the end of my career, as I didn’t have a team before February. But especially because of my accident from two years ago, after which the doctors doubted whether I would ever be able to ride a bike again. Despite this bad luck, the crash in the downhill of the Mortirolo included, I never gave up. Fourteen years after my first top ten, I am still here. I can be proud of this result. Speaking just after the race, I cannot say what this means for my future, but what I know for sure, is that I want to benefit from my good condition to do a good Tour of Switzerland. »
