Diego Ulissi considering classics and Grand Tour overall after Giro success
Michele Bartoli gives his verdict on 24-year-old Italian Diego Ulissi, who is considering options for his future
Diego Ulissi is pushing the limits to understand how far he can go in cycling. After his second Giro d'Italia stage win yesterday to Montecopiolo, he wants to test himself for the Ardennes Classics and the overall classification in Grand Tours.
"My win in Viggiano was like a classic, I understood what’s possible for me,” 24-year-old Ulissi said. “I still suffer on the long and hard climbs. In a few years, I could try for the classification in a grand tour."
Team Lampre’s Ulissi won the mountain-top finish yesterday to Montecopiolo ahead of Robert Kiserlovski. To do so, he left behind overall favourite Rigoberto Urán, Nairo Quintana and the Giro's new race leader, Cadel Evans.
The stage was his second win, following the one to Viggiano where he survived rain showers, cold weather and shot ahead of Joaquím Rodríguez and Evans.
"He had two occasions to win and won both times," Michele Bartoli told Cycling Weekly. "If not for the rain and crashes on the stage to Montecassino, he might have had three wins."
Bartoli won several classics in the late 1990s and early 2000s, including Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Tour of Flanders. Since 2013, Lampre hired him to help train some of its cyclists.
"I'm trying to give him my experience that I've gained in my years, to help him and the others in Lampre to grow," he said.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
"We thought Diego could do well before the Giro. We even thought of the maglia rosa if the team time trial in Belfast went a little better. We were ambitious in the first 10 days the first week."
Lampre planned to race the overall with Chris Horner, but a training crash ruled last year's Vuelta a España out. It instead hoped for Przemyslaw Niemec and Damiano Cunego, who have both suffered from crashes in the Giro. Ulissi, however, has given Lampre plenty reason to smile.
Ulissi won two road race world titles as a junior. Since 2010, he has progressed well with team Lampre. This year, though, has been his best so far with four big wins: a Tour Down Under stage, the GP Camaiore one-day classic and two stages in the Giro.
After the Giro, he will back off, race the Vuelta a España and aim for the Worlds in Ponferrada, Spain. Bartoli explained that this Giro would help him start to understand himself.
"Diego can do well in both the Grand tours and classics, but he needs time to mature. He first has to understand what he wants to do. He goes well on the climbs, he can recover well... Remember last year, he placed second behind Rodríguez in one of the last mountain stages at the Vuelta. He's shown that he has a good recovery. He's complete."
Diego Ulissi strikes again on Giro d'Italia stage eight
Cadel Evans takes overall race lead from Michael Matthews after action-packed stage
Diego Ulissi wins Giro stage five in Viggiano
Ulissi gets the better of Rodriguez, Evans and Boasson Hagen in an uphill sprint in Viggiano
Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Gregor Brown is an experienced cycling journalist, based in Florence, Italy. He has covered races all over the world for over a decade - following the Giro, Tour de France, and every major race since 2006. His love of cycling began with freestyle and BMX, before the 1998 Tour de France led him to a deep appreciation of the road racing season.
-
‘I am in love with Unbound Gravel’ - new documentary celebrates three unsung and behind-the-scenes heroes of race
Shimano's new documentary 'Unsung' shares the stories of three "behind-the-scenes" people who make Unbound Gravel happen each year: a sports photographer, a bike mechanic, and an event organizer.
By Kristin Jenny Published
-
'One of the boys thinks I’ll be walking about in armour': Mark Cavendish knighted in ceremony at Windsor Castle
Manxman says he was “nervous” after being made a Knight Commander by Prince William
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
Is this the £17,000 bike that will carry Tadej Pogačar to the rainbow jersey?
Colnago launch special edition V4RS Tadej ahead of the elite men’s road race at the World Championships
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
Spotted: Tadej Pogačar running prototype Enve TT bars, which have seen UAE net time trial podiums all season
A development project, the extensions are not yet commercially available, but Enve says it’s ‘excited by the results and believe the initial goals have been achieved’
By Anne-Marije Rook Published
-
'There are serious implications' - Tadej Pogačar's UAE Team Emirates face sanctions threat
Growing pressure on Western governments to sanction UAE over Russia could spell trouble for Tadej Pogačar's team
By Chris Marshall-Bell Published
-
UAE Emirates rider Alexys Brunel retires from professional cycling at 23
The young French rider is leaving the sport to focus on other challenges in life
By Ryan Dabbs Published
-
Tadej Pogačar returns to training after contracting covid
UAE Team Emirates say that Slovenian is still on track to make season debut at UAE Tour
By Adam Becket Published
-
Matteo Trentin: Roads are 'more of a jungle than a proper training environment'
Italian says that more needs to be done for cycling safety to protect the future of the sport
By Adam Becket Published
-
What did we learn from the first elite road races of the year?
Alejandro Valverde is still good; Lotto-Soudal are hungry for results; Biniam Girmay might be a force to be reckoned with
By Adam Becket Published
-
Brandon McNulty wins Trofeo Calvia, the first elite men's race of 2022
UAE-Emirates American rider wins the first part of the Challenge Mallorca with 60km solo attack
By Adam Becket Published