He had done it before, back in 2021, in Bagno di Romagna. And he did it again today, in Sappada, the land of biathlon, of the Carnia Arena and of Lisa Vittozzi, the world champion. If it had been a biathlon competition, Andrea Vendrame‘s performance would have been a 5 out of 5 on the range, a clean shoot.
His legs were those of his best days. After all, one does not enter a breakaway after a fast and furious start and over 80km of brawling without being physically and mentally fit. The breakaway was high-calibre, featuring the likes of Julian Alaphilippe, Georg Steinhauser, Jhonatan Narvaez and Pelayo Sanchez, all riders who have already won a stage in this Giro, not by chance.
How to beat them, then? By timing it right, by moving perfectly, by not doing anything wrong at the range. In the pouring rain, Vendrame attacked on the descent between the last two climbs… a madman, but that’s one of the reasons why they call him Joker (the other is a scar on his face due to a training accident with a car). Vendrame bombed down the descent and opened up a lead of more than one minute on the 5-man chasing group. At the Carnia Biathlon Arena, he did not have to take any penalty laps, he went straight to the finish line in Sappada. A victory, a triumph, three years after his last success. Vendrame had already won a Giro d’Italia stage in 2021, even then scoring 5 out of 5 on the polygon and beating stronger riders than him on the climb to Bagno di Romagna.
Tomorrow sees the double ascent to Monte Grappa. All will be settled there. For climbers and GC riders, it’s tomorrow or never.
