Giro d’Italia – Stage 17 – Heinrich Haussler «This 4th place feels good for the team, but tomorrow no one will remember»

The sun and warmth found their way back to the Giro d’Italia.  The riders could not have had the smallest complaint.  Nevertheless, the peloton rode at a great pace from Tirano to Lugano with the intention of vying for a bunch sprint after all the days of mountain finishes.  In this game, the Lampre team proved the best in providing their sprinter Sacha Modolo a magic carpet ride to win the sprint into Lugano.  The Italian left no chance for his compatriot Giacomo Nizzolo to sneak in a victory.  On the GC side, Alberto Contador and his pink jersey remained at the front of the goings-on in order to avoid crashing in a technical final worthy of Milan-San Remo.

For its part, IAM Cycling regained some of its mojo after suffering the abandonment of its leader Sébastien Reichenbach during the queen stage the day before.  Well positioned despite not having a teammate to help in the final lead up to the sprint, Heinrich Haussler still snagged a strong 4^th place.

After the stage, Haussler played down the importance of the ranking that he won on the waterfront of the beautiful Lake Lugano.  “This 4^th place feels good for the team, but tomorrow no one will remember it.  Of course, for my confidence it is nice, especially since in such a mountainous Giro we have to seize ever possible opportunity.  I felt strong all day, but when you are sprinting alone, it is never easy to get into a podium position.  Besides, the finishes in the Giro are really Italian.  The work that Lampre did just confirms that.  We are still hoping to get a shot at a stage win in Milan on Sunday for the final.”

Kjell Carlström, directeur sportif along with Rubens Bertogliati, took the lead in celebrating Haussler’s result.  “We counted on having a breakaway with maybe ten riders, including one of us for this stage.  But that did not turn out as we had imagined.  We were particularly attentive, especially with Sylvain Chavanel, who had a good shot at playing for a win in this very difficult final.  In the end it was Heinrich who had to fend for himself, and his 4^th place is a great reward for all his hard work as well as for the team’s during this third, less complicated week.”