Crazy, dramatic, Wheel of Fortune Giro stage five
Arrieta crashes, Eulálio crashes, they battle for victory and the pink jersey.
“La tappa della corsa era bagnata e pessima. Le strade erano scivolose. Il Giro d’Italia era assolutamente folle.”
That was google translator giving me the Italian version of “The race stage was wet and miserable. The roads were slippery. The Giro d’Italia was absolutely crazy.”
It was bonkers and dramatic and just plain unbelievable. On the climb up the Cat 2 Montagna Grande di Viggiano, Igor Arrieta (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) attacks solo and zips away. Then Alfonso Eulálio (Bahrain Victorious) manages to join him and the new friends leave the pink jersey GC group far behind.
I mean far, far, behind. Three, then four, five — keep going, six minutes and finally over seven. The man in pink at the start of the day, Giulio Ciccone of Trek Lidl, had few reinforcements and little help.
The boys over at Visma Lease a Bike and massive GC favorite Jonas Vingegaard essentially said it’s your jersey, it’s your job. We’re not worried about giving those guys a whopping time gap. (Which seemed a little questionable given both escapees were climbers who will be unafraid of the high mountains to come.)
In any case, the weather was shitty, the roads were wet and lined with large puddles and traction was more hope than actual fact. Just a nasty, nasty day in the wet saddle. Closing the gap became mission impossible.
That’s when the story of stage five went bonkers. First, Arrieta slid out on a left hander. It wasn’t his fault, his line was good, he wasn’t taking risks but down he went. He grabbed a new bike but he’d lost 30 seconds and, with under 10k, his chances of catching Eulálio appeared slim.
And let’s not forget the juicy stakes. Until that moment, one of those two riders was guaranteed to win the stage and the maglia rosa. This was going to be the greatest day of their sporting careers. It was a monster opportunity that comes around once a season.
But there was the unfortunate Arrieta down on the wet tarmac, thinking his life is over. Only, shockingly, incredibly, not. The wheel of fortune was about to spin the other way.
In a total deja vu all-over-again moment, it was now Eulálio’s turn to slip out. His line was also good and his speed conservative. Still, down he went, sliding across the road and up against the metal guardrail. He remounts, no doubt screaming obscenities in his head.
And lo and behold, who’s that closing fast and bent on vengeance and redemption: yup, it’s Arrieta. The two men share a quick commiseration — “I crashed.” “Yeah, me too.” then they get back to business.
Arrieta takes the front and they motor. But we’re not done with the drama — we’re only just getting started.
The road does a spit with the race course bending right and the other road going straight but closed off by a ribbon of white plastic tape. Arrieta goes too wide and is forced off course, into the tape. What a fun stage, he is not thinking to himself.
He jumps back on course but once again, we assume he is never going to see Eulálio again. Especially when he nearly crashes moments later, his rear tire sliding as he’s out of the saddle trying to generate extra force.
Meanwhile, Eulálio must believe this whole crazy race is finally in the bag: stage win, pink jersey, magnum of Prosecco.
Nope, the Cycling Gods want more DRAMA. Arrieta cannot be killed, his will cannot be broken, he is now some kind of Terminator character.
The overhead camera shows Arrieta coming back, closing, and in the final few hundred metes, he’s right on Eulálio’s wheel. The commentators are going stark raving mad.
Arrieta jumps and it’s no match at all. One of the greatest race comebacks I’ve ever seen.
"When I lost him at two kilometers I thought it was not possible [to win], but I kept pushing and saw that he could not go faster than me. When I got his wheel it's like 'f***, maybe I can win'.
One prediction for tomorrow: stage six can’t possibly be this dramatic, this unbelievable, this bonkers.