Salò (dpa) – Before the last week of the 105th Giro d’Italia, the German cycling hope Emanuel Buchmann still sees potential for the podium.
“I still feel pretty good. The rest day is just right. The last two stages were extremely difficult,” said the climbing specialist before the rest day on Monday. “I’m trying to regenerate as best I can. And I think everything’s still possible as a team. Everyone here looks pretty good. Let’s see what’s possible.”
Buchmann is seventh overall in the final week, in which four mountain stages are on the program. Buchmann is 1:58 minutes behind overall leader Richard Carapaz from Ecuador and 1:28 minutes behind third-placed Joao Almeida from Portugal.
Buchmann relies on last week
Buchmann’s preparation was not optimal due to illness, but the build-up in form was designed to be at its strongest in the last week. “You can be very satisfied with how things are going,” said the 29-year-old. Buchmann is the captain of the Bora-hansgrohe team alongside the Australian Jai Hindley, who is currently second and only seven seconds behind Carapaz.
Lennard Kämna will hunt for stages again if the opportunity arises. The highly gifted North German already won the fourth stage on Mount Etna. “I think it’s been a super giro for the entire team so far. Everything has gone very well and I think I’m super happy, the team is super happy,” said the 25-year-old.
On Tuesday, the last Giro week begins with the 16th stage over 202 kilometers from Salò to Aprica. There are three mountains of the first category to be conquered.