Costarican Andrey Amador (Movistar team) is the winner of the 14th stage, Cherasco - Cervinia (206 km). Amador was part of breakaway that succeeded and was followed to the finish line by Jan Barta (Team NetApp) and Alessandro De Marchi (Androni Giocattoli Venezuela).
Armador, whose full name is Andrey Amador Bikkazakova (he is half Russian and half Costa Rican) represents a country that has never before had anything to celebrate in the Giro. "In Costa Rica the most popular sport is soccer but since I started cycling has become popular too," said Armador. He continued, "This year for the first time, my preparation for the Giro has been excellent. The last year and a half are best forgotten," referring to when he was wounded in his home country on December 29, 2010, when he was attacked by thugs who wanted to steal his Pinarello bike; he was beaten up and left on the bank of a river for dead. Then, in 2011 he broke his collarbone while preparing for the Giro, and then broke his ankle preparing for the Tour de France. Amador continued, "This year I had a good calendar of races. I’ve changed my training methods and it works well. Our team Movistar is doing very well at the Giro, we already have two stage wins (with
Ventoso at Frosinone in Stage 9) and we are highly placed on GC with Benat Intxausti seventh at 1.07."
Canadian Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin Barracuda) takes back the Maglia Rosa after finishing 4th on the stage: "I felt good. It felt easy when the guys were setting the tempo," Hesjedal said. "When some guys started to accelerate a bit, I knew it eased off after 3km, and I figured I'd give it a go and test myself. I wasn't really thinking of anything except putting in an effort and seeing how the other guys did." He leads the GC ahead of Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) at 9 seconds and Paolo Tiralongo (Astana) at 41 seconds.
Purito Joaquin Rodriguez after loosing the Maglia Rosa: "I knew it would be a difficult stage, also because of the weather. I find these climbs hard, and prefer shorter, steep ones. Basso's team maintained an extremely punishing rhythm. When I realized that Hesjedal was catching up I decided to defend myself on my own, but I couldn't catch him. It was a shame, but this was only the first of many crucial days, there are many ahead starting with Piani dei Resinelli (
tomorrow) which is much better suited to me".
Michele Scarponi: "Hesjedal is a great rider, we must not underestimate him".
Ivan Basso: "It was an extremely challenging stage, with the rain and the cold making it even more challenging than expected. In the final stretch, the way I felt, I preferred not to try anything, but to stay in the group of the pink jersey".
Highlights (now preceded by promo message):
CycleItalia's "Lorenzo" was there! Read more here http://cycleitalia.blogspot.it/2012/05/living-dreamagain.html
ReplyDeleteKeep up the great work Angel(o)!