As if playing basketball was so easy in Varese

There was someone who said that if cyclists don’t want to get cold or wet, they should play basketball. He said it without noticing that the stage reached Varese, the home of Ignis de Ossola, Rusconi, Flaborea, Meneghin and Raga. Ten consecutive European Basketball Cup finals from 1970 to 1979! And one goes and, just this Saturday, he tells the cyclists to dedicate themselves to basketball. In Varese.

So there was no other choice but to ride the bike in Switzerland and return to rich Italy along the shores of Lake Maggiore. Varese is that legendary team – twelve years without losing a home match in Europe until it was beaten by Jugoplastika in Split in January 1978 – but cycling came to the city before the pallacanestro. Alfredo Binda was born here and the patron of the kitchen factory, Giovanni Borghi, who set up the Ignis team led by Miguel Poblet at the end of the 50s.

Three Gore Tex jackets

So, with no options in basketball, some thirty cyclists embarked on a massive getaway to brave the cold. Laborers of glory, what would the classic say. And there was a prize again. This time, double. After 180 kilometers of adventure, the stage went to Nico Denz (Bora). Second victory after that of Tivoli, then after 166 kilometers of riding. The 29-year-old German, who gave a recital, is outrageous. He explained at the finish line that he had to put on three Gore Tex jackets for the descent of the Sempione pass and that he froze.

Second was Derek Gee (Israel), 25, who repeats his position for the third time. He had already been left with honey on his lips in Viareggio and in Fossombrone. He was fourth on top of Crans Montana. All four days, after catching a break-out. Several sprinters got into the breakaway, it was so clear that it was going to arrive. But the beating that the peloton takes was noticeable. Oldani (Alpecin) and Ballerini (Soudal) ran out of steam in the final stretch. Fernando Gaviria (Movistar) had been off the hook long before.

The prize was double because Bruno Armirail (Groupama) won the pink jersey. The French time trial champion, the only triumph of his record, got into the breakaway and thanked Ineos for the gift. The peloton made it to 21 minutes and Geraint Thomas moves into second overall at 1:41 behind the new leader. The last Frenchman to wear the pink jersey was Laurent Jalabert, who in 1999 wore it for five days.

The rain, the cold and the two hundred kilometer stages are crushing the cyclists and the race does not take off. But the Giro always has resources and today prescribes a full-fledged Giro de Lombardy for the peloton, ending in Bergamo. They say it doesn’t rain anyway.