Verona (Italy), June 2nd – BAHRAIN MERIDA Pro Cycling Team took another podium place at the Giro d’Italia with Vincenzo Nibali, runner-up in this year’s edition, that concluded in Verona today.
The Shark confirmed his second place overall, after a strong performance in the closing time trial, finishing 9th, although his GC place was actually under no threat.
“I have no regrets” TBM captain comments “I think my Giro was good and the whole team performed well. It was a very tough and intense race. My rivals were really strong and to take the final win, wasn’t easy”. In the end Richard Carapaz was crown the first Ecuadoran Grand Tour champion, with Nibali at 1:05: “He showed to be in an extraordinary shape and with his team they did an excellent race. The leaders of the various teams controlled each other, especially in the first part of the Giro, but I can’t say we made some mistakes. Carapaz was very strong and we tried to attack him, but without success. He deserved this victory. All in all, I can be satisfied with my Giro, in particular if we consider that less than nine months have passed since my bad injury at the Tour de France…I made a lot of sacrifices and I worked hard and that makes this result even more important”.
Vincenzo Nibali shared the joy for this beautiful podium with his teammates that supported him throughout the Giro, showing to be not only strong, but a united team: “They were all amazing”.
Among them, Damiano Caruso deserved a final big applause for his impressive time trial. He put in a strong effort today, taking a good top five place in Verona: he was 4th, just 9 seconds behind the winner Chad Haga.
Strong team, but also ‘honest’ team: in the astonishing ‘Arena’ Bahrain Merida boys received the ‘fair play’ prize as the team with the least penalties.
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