Our Giro reaches Mount Etna for its first summit finish and, appropriately enough, the story of one of the Giro’s most famous explosions.
Call it a capitulation, a hunger flat, a bonk – cycling has as many terms for running out of fuel and hitting the wall as Eskimos have for ice. In 2002 Cadel Evans, the Australian former mountain biker taking part in his first Grand Tour, was in the pink jersey and only had one mountain to hang on.
Evans was riding for Mapei, the world’s best team, in what was, as we discussed in our stage 4 episode, a controversial, scandal-ridden Giro. In this episode we speak to Evans about his baptism of fire and about the stage when his body said ‘enough’ – he tells us what it was like to ride for Mapei, to have a teammate expelled after testing positive and to find himself in the lead so close to the finish.
Although Evans didn’t win, the experience did provide an important building block in a career that would see him win the Tour de France nine years later.
FURTHER READING OR WATCHING…
COMING TOMORROW…
In stage seven of Our Giro we’ll be embarking on the first of a two-part special on the life and times of Mario Cipollini, the most colourful, flamboyant and controversial sprinter in Giro history – as well as the holder of the record for most stage wins.
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