Lidl-Trek's Giulio Ciccone tried and was denied once again to win a Giro d'Italia stage on stage 19, spending a long time in a strong break and going solo onto the final climb, only to be caught and passed by stage winner Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) in the final three kilometres.
Ciccone wore the pink jersey early in this Giro, but has yet to win a stage outright, coming close similarly on stage 9 when he was caught with 1.7km to go on the Corno alle Scale. He's been in multiple breakaways on stages 14, 16 and 17, and other times stopped from even going in the break.
On Friday, Ciccone finished third, and his efforts were rewarded by winning the Cima Coppi atop the Passo Giau and moving into the king of the mountains jersey – but even that didn't come without drama.
The Italian started the day in the blue jersey, but was just the custodian of it behind actual pre-stage leader Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), who is wearing the pink jersey.
However, by winning atop the Passo Duran, Coi climb, Forcella Staulanza and the race's highest point, the Passo Giau, Ciccone moved into the lead outright. The beef started though, when Ciccone accelerated to try to win the maximum points atop the penultimate climb, the Passo Falzarego, but he was rolled to the line by Einer Rubio (Movistar).
Rubio started the day fourth in the classification and on Friday moved up to third, so he had every right to go for the points, but is not within reach of the lead. Ciccone, meanwhile, could have cemented his lead with the extra 18 points. Had he won that KoM, and still finished third at the finish, he would now be on 283 points to Vingegaard's 216.
A maximum of 99 points are available on stage 20, so though the Passo Falzarego won't make the difference between safety and vulnerability for Ciccone, he was visibly angered by Rubio challenging him for the points.
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Over the top of the climb, Ciccone was gesturing and shouting at the Movistar rider, who shrugged in response, and then also remonstrated with the camera motorbike. It was this anger that prompted his attack to go solo on the descent, though even fueled by irritation, he ultimately failed to grab the stage win.
Speaking in Italian at the finish, Ciccone referred to a move by a "piccolo corridore" – literally a 'small rider' but also the term for a junior rider.
Rubio suggested after the stage that he had agreed with Lidl-Trek – who also had Derek Gee-West in the break – that he could win the Red Bull KM and they would take the KoM sprints, but after Gee-West beat Rubio to the Red Bull sprint, the Movistar rider decided to challenge them because they "didn't keep their word".
"It's about respect, and I don't think he was very respectful today," Ciccone told reports after the stage in Italian. "[Rubio] got angry perhaps because he wanted the Red Bull KM time bonuses but that was a matter for the GC riders.
"It was nothing to do with me but he blamed me. I trusted him at the KOM sprint but he showed he showed a lack of class.
"It was a stage for whoever had the legs. The attack broke up on the first climb. I raced for the KOM jersey, that was my big goal. I was lucky that some guys gave me a hand, like Giulio Pellizzari and Alberto Bettiol.
"I didn't want to get upset about what Rubio did but I just didn't expect that to happen and didn't understand it.
"I knew I could have gained time on the descent but anger gave me even more 'grinta' to dive into the corners."
Regarding missing out on the stage win, Ciccone seemed much less frustrated with that loss than the mountains points situation.
"I tried to win in the downhill. I know I can do a good downhill. I went super fast, especially the first part, and then when I arrived in the valley I realised that I had to push a lot to keep the keep the gap," he said.
"So when I took the climb, I tried to set my tempo, but it was not easy, because from the back they were close. So I knew it in my head, I was ready to be like this [caught]."
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