Nairo Quintana, ten years after his Giro, gets into the break taking advantage of the Forca Capistrello climb at the start. He joins his partner Pelayo Sánchez, in great shape, which is equally valid for the sterrato as for the mountain stages, and they are joined by other climbers who dream of victory in Prati di Tivo. Everyone walks with the same hope. They cross their fingers in mercy, praying that the boss doesn’t lose his appetite.
The Colombian from Movistar had not run the Corsa Rosa for seven years, in which he was also second in his second participation, in 2017. And in his third attempt, Nairo wants a day of glory for old times’ sake, a great epitaph for their days of splendor.
But Pogacar and his team’s hearts are not softened, they are not softened by the flight of the Boyacá phoenix. The Slovenian is anything but nostalgic. And he does not give permission for the veterans, for the only former winner of the pink jersey in the race. He does not give free rein to the escape, he ties it up short.
“My teammates wanted me to win the third stage,” he confesses at the finish line, as if he needed a justification, after fulfilling the wish of his ambitious squires, who control, who bring the escape closer and already on the last climb they neutralize it. Afterwards, Pogacar wins because he has been ordered to do so.
He does it without attacking, just sprinting. This time there are no excesses or exhibition. He just lets himself go and finishes at the end. Without excesses. A little different from what he is used to in this record-breaking season in which he already has ten wins. It is the third time that he has won two stages in a row in a grand tour, he had already done so in the 2021 and 2022 Tours.
The Slovenian seems to win without breaking a sweat. Nobody tries to prove it either, let alone put it against the ropes. All of his theoretical rivals climb the Prati di Tivo pass a little resigned, without moving the tree, without daring to light the fuse. Except for the Italian Tiberi (Bahrain), the only one who goes off script with two attacks with 1.8 km and 1.1 km remaining. The leader comes out easily and gracefully for both, who does not need to get up from the saddle and who will finally start, with 200 meters to go, raising his hands almost without flinching. His third stage in the first week of a Giro that he dominates from start to finish, in which he is the Caesar who raises or lowers his thumb as he pleases. Quintana has no choice but to try again another day. While his compatriot Dani Martínez (Bora) is second and his Movistar colleague Einer Rubio is already eighth.
