Cavendish turns pink in Naples.

//Cavendish turns pink in Naples.

Cavendish turns pink in Naples.

Cavendish wins in Naples.

It ain’t easy turning lime green into pink. Some inherent chromatic difficulties.

Elia Viviani (Cannondale) thought he had the first maglia rosa of the 2013 Giro d’Italia in his grasp. He’d done everything perfectly, floating in the slipstream of the Orica-GreenEdge train. When their sprinter Matthew Goss went up the left side, Viviani took the Aussi’s wheel, then ripped past into open daylight on the Via Caracciolo.

In those split seconds he must have thought, the jersey is mine. Biggest win of his career, an Italian in pink in the Giro on a glorious sunny day in Naples. The memory of a lifetime. Sadly, he learned again the same lesson as Matthew Goss and Nacer Bouhanni: Mark Cavendish is the fastest sprinter in the world.

Cavendish rocketed up the right side and with 100 meters to the finish line, he and Viviani battled side by side, elbows nearly touching. The Manxman simply had more kick and better timing. The Member of the British Empire locked up his eleventh victory in the Giro.

Viviani pounded his handlebar twice with frustration. Almost maglia rosa, nearly a winner in Naples, close but no prosecco. In a Giro with a limited number of sprint stages, it was an agonizing one to lose.

“It came down to a head-to-head against Cavendish, on a finish like that… I didn’t lose by much, but I lost. I just hope at least that I gave him a bit of a fright,” said Viviani.

Cavendish did not appear scared — even when his Omega-Pharma Quickstep team ran into trouble in the chaotic finale. “Steegmans had a problem with his gears and so I had to close a ten-metre gap with just 500m to go. I had to go in the red to win the sprint,” said Cavendish.

He had to go deep with then, you do that when your favorite fashion designer is in Naples for the show. “It was really, really hard. I wanted it so bad. My good friend Paul Smith is here, he did the jersey and I promised him I’d take it.”

Viviani lost to Cavendish and there’s no shame in that — or surprise. “We know who he is, we know how many stages he’s won at the Tour and the Giro,” Viviani said. “I said it last week at the Tour of Romandie when he was saying he wasn’t on form – Cavendish is a champion and when he has an objective in mind he’s hard to beat.”

Besides, everybody knows it’s easier to turn red into pink. Lime green — that’s a bigger challenge.

 

1 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Omega Pharma – Quick Step 2:58:18
2 Elia Viviani (Ita) Cannondale 0:00:08
3 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) FDJ 0:00:12
4 Danilo Hondo (Ger) Radioshack – Leopard 0:00:19
5 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Radioshack – Leopard 0:00:20
6 Matthew Harley Goss (Aus) Orica – GreenEdge
7 Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (Spa) Movistar
8 Adam Blythe (GBr) BMC Racing Team
9 Leigh Howard (Aus) Orica – GreenEdge 0:00:23
10 Brett Lancaster (Aus) Orica – GreenEdge 0:00:32

 

 

 

By |2019-02-03T16:06:18-08:00May 4th, 2013|Uncategorized|4 Comments

About the Author:

4 Comments

  1. cappuccinoexpress May 4, 2013 at 10:25 am - Reply

    It’s curious how OPQS is not able to support Cav in the right way( this should be their only goal). Luckily for them, he has demostrated, not only today, that he’s able to do the final job alone, the important thing is to have the group compact in the finale. But they desperately need a consistent lead out man

    Disappointing Goss, Viviani almost did it, but Cav is from another planet.

  2. The SuperStorm May 4, 2013 at 6:40 pm - Reply

    Bravissimo Marko! Takin’ it to the Italians on day one!

    They don’t call him the “Manx Missile” for nothing! Once again, Little Marky Mark proves that calculating the sprint wins races all by his lonesome with no team members. And where was loud mouth Roberto “Too Much Fettucci” Ferrari? Bringing up the rear of the top 20 at 19th. “The Kid” got lost in the final couple of kilo’s. I thought “Jimmy Ouch” was going to make sure “Kid” Phinney had help today? In all of the chaos at the end, Adam “Mystery Man” Blythe was there at the end. Who will be in Pink tomorrow?

    • cappuccinoxpress May 5, 2013 at 3:11 am - Reply

      Who in pink tomorrow?mmm….Cataldo 🙂

      • walshworld May 5, 2013 at 10:05 am

        Almost but not quite Cataldo. Matt

Leave A Comment