Bruno Armirail couldn’t be prepared for his Sunday journey to Bergamo. With the pink jersey on his shoulders, the Frenchman undoubtedly experienced one of the most memorable days of his career in stage 15 of the Giro. Speechless the day before, the French time trial champion finally realized on Sunday, on the bike and along the road, the impact of his new outfit. As an icing on the cake, following a day controlled by his teammates, he managed to save his pink jersey despite attacks from the favorites in the final. With more than a minute lead, he therefore remains at the top of the general classification of the Giro d’Italia and will still be able to enjoy his new popularity tomorrow on the rest day, then Tuesday in the monstrous stage of Monte Bondone.
“I will give everything to keep it tonight”. Just by going to the start in Seregno on Sunday morning, after a magical night, Bruno Armirail was able to judge the pink jersey effect. Although he was well aware of the menu of stage 15 towards Bergamo, through three big climbs and 4000 meters of elevation gain, the Frenchman did not want to lose the jersey after just twenty-four hours. Especially since he hadn’t seen anything yet… However, in order to achieve his goal, the first step was to not make mistakes at the start of the race, when the fight for the breakaway began. “There were two options. Either the breakaway went on the flat and with riders quite far in GC, or it was a fight until the first climb, in which case the situation would have been much different”, explainedSébastien Joly. “Eventually, it went on the flat, and with Rubio, who was eleven minutes down this morning. If we would have pulled to come back on him, the risk was that the race would start again and that it would explode in the first climb. We preferred to let it go, manage it, and that allowed us to take our own pace”. So after letting the gap grow to five minutes, the whole team positioned at the head of the pack, first in the wake of Fabian Lienhard. The Swiss man set the pace up until the first climb, then Jake Stewart and Ignatas Konovalovas replaced him in the valley leading to the Selvino.
“I was moved on the bike”, Bruno Armirail
“The scenario was good for us, and we managed to control it well”, explained the Lithuanian. “The leading group was quite strong, but it’s very good that we succeeded inmaintaining the gap at 5-6 minutes with only two or threeriders. I was personally in one of my best days since the start. Defending the jersey gave me, and gave us, even more motivation.” “Jake and Fabian surpassed themselves, and it was also nice to see Ignatas back at this level,” added Sébastien. “They managed to control until the last climb, and they were all up to the task. We knew that the GC teams were going to take the race in hand in the final, but that allowed us to respect and honour the jersey”. After the two climbs located halfway through, the situation was therefore under control before a long valley leading to the last big ascent of the day. Protected, surrounded, and guided throughout the day, Bruno Armirail savoured the “fleeting moments” Rudy Molard was speaking about the day before. “I got a lot of encouragement”, he said later. “Yesterday I had not realized. Today I did. It’s only when I got on the bike that I realized that only pink mattered. It gave me goosebumps. During the stage, I even had goosebumps looking at the work my teammateswere doing, because it is usually the one I do for them. I was moved on the bike. I thought: “they ride for me, it’s amazing”. I don’t think I will experience that often in my career. It was crazy stuff.”
“I had to give everything until the end”, Bruno Armirail
As an expert of the domestique’s work, Bruno Armirail had nothing but praise to express for the support of his teammates on Sunday. “Honestly, the guys did a terrific job,” addedBruno. “They pulled all day. We lost Fabian at one point, but he came back and pulled again. Kono did a tremendous job, Jake too. I tried to have some encouraging words for them. When I’m in their place, it always makes me happy when the leader comes to encourage me a little. I know the work they did today, I know it very well, and I can’t wait to see them to thank them for all they have done.” As for the race, the peloton certainly reduced in the climb of Roncola Alta (10km at 6.7%) but it didn’t start the fight yet. It was only on the heights of Bergamo, five kilometres from the finish, that some attacks were recorded. Thibaut Pinot managed to stay very close to the favourites, while Bruno Armirail left it all on the road so as not to lose everything. “I know a short bump like that isn’t my thing, but I also knew it was pretty close to the line, so I did my best on the climb and gave it my all until the line”, said Bruno. “The whole team did a huge job, and I had to give everything until the end to try to keep it. I would have been very disappointed to lose this jersey, because they gave 300% of themselves”.
On the line, Bruno Armirail eventually lost only about thirty seconds on the GC contenders, and therefore easily kept the leadership. “It was an incredible day for me, I fully enjoyed it”, assured Bruno. “The guys really nailed it and I’m still in pink tonight thanks to them. It’s great to be able to spend the rest day with it. Tuesday? It will be another day”. While Brandon McNulty won the day’s stage after a breakaway, Thibaut Pinot only lost two seconds on some favorites and remains in eleventh place overall ahead of the third week of the Giro, which will start immediately with a tough program towards Monte Bondone. “We’re going to rest well tomorrow, Bruno will savour his jersey, then we’ll set off for the final week 100% behind THibaut,” concluded Sébastien.
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