Antonio, a word?
Antonio Andolini: Very tough race today. I tried to surprise favorites - ran out of juice.
How do you feel about your Ardennes campaign?
(catching his breath) Amstel was great. Unfortunately I didn't have my Amstel legs in Wallonne or here today. I didn't feel all that great today again, which is why I didn't risk a sprint. I gambled and lost, but with these legs it was the best I could do. I'm having some troubles peaking right for these races.
Giro d'Italia is next. The race starts with a prologue right here in Belgium, in Ghent. How do you reckon your chances of grabbing Pink on the first day?
Hard to say. I'll check out the route before heading back to Italy. For now, though, my head can't be wrapped around the Giro since my legs are still screaming after today's race.

The Giro started in Belgium this year, with an opening prologue in Ghent in honour of Wouter Weylandt, who died tragically in the Giro now six years ago.

Stage 2 took the riders from Ghent to Genk. The third stage was a mini-Flèche Wallonne with the finish on the Mur de Huy. While the Giro is returning to Italy, we take some time to stand still at the first three stages and one thing - or rather person - stands out.

PEOPLE, FAUSTO COPPI IS BACK!


The Italian Champion (I was eager to say our Italian champion but I almost forgot I'm not Italian...) has been preparing for this for ages and nobody could threaten him for his first stage win in the Giro. Antonio Andolini took the prologue with a demonstration of speed and power. He conquered the Pink Jersey in absence of other top time trialists.



Result - Stage 1

1	Antonio Andolini	Cattelan Italia	8'02
2	Jan Brockhoff	Team Giant-Alpecin	+ 11
3	Manuele Boaro	Orica-GreenEDGE	+ 12
4	Damien Gaudin	FDJ	+ 13
5	Luke Durbridge	FDJ	+ 14
6	Maciej Bodnar	Astana Pro Team	+ 16
7	Florencio Emery	Movistar Team	+ 17
8	Christopher Juul Jensen	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
9	Patrick Gretsch	Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela	+ 18
10	Vasil Kiryienka	Team Sky	+ 21

In the interview, Andolini showed once again what a class rider he is by paying tribute to Weylandt in his Ghent (Weylandt was born here).

And so we went to the stage for the sprinters, finishing in Genk. Andolini paraded his nice jersey through Flanders, under loud applause from the lovely Belgian crowd.


In the sprint, we had a rather large surprise. Appollonio started from very far. Or rather - he was leading out Antonio Andolini. Yes, you heard it correctly. Appo was leading out Ando, not the other way around!


Andolini - on a monster gear - powered to the head of the sprinting peloton.


Needless to say, everyone watching this, was watching with their mouth hanging open. What the hell?

The real sprinters (sorry Ando) were taken by surprise but nonetheless came all at once, rushing towards the finish.


In the end, but one sprinter, Danny Van Poppel, managed to overtake the Pink Jersey for the win of the day. A most surprising result from Andolini. It still baffles me!



Result - Stage 2

1	Danny Van Poppel	Team LottoNL - Jumbo	4h44'52
2	Antonio Andolini	Cattelan Italia	s.t.
3	Davide Cimolai	Movistar Team	s.t.
4	Marc Sarreau	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
5	Nacer Bouhanni	Team Giant-Alpecin	s.t.
6	Andrea Guardini	Astana Pro Team	s.t.
7	Elia Viviani	Orica-GreenEDGE	s.t.
8	Jens Debusschere	MTN-Qhubeka	s.t.
9	Mark Cavendish	Team Sky	s.t.
10	Niccolo Bonifazio	Etixx - Quick-step	s.t.

And so we went towards the Mur de Huy stage. Obviously all the press had but one name for today's race: Antonio Andolini.

Could Fausto Coppi pull it off?

Movistar had a tight plan to keep the Italian from winning and shifting the power balance to Quintana's camp.


But Cattelan is no longer the small team waiting to be taken to the slaughterhouse. Instead, Taaramae did what he was hired to do. He escaped and made life harder for the Spanish team!


With Taaramae up front, Cattelan started a little plan of their own. Rosa did some excellent work for his leader.


And - BAM - off was Ando!
Quickly catching up to Taaramae was a genius move and Taaramae lead Ando over the penultimate hill.




All that remained was the Mur de Huy. With a satisfying lead, the Pink Jersey tackled it with style. Fausto Coppi is reborn and here he is. World: bow down for this Italian master on Belgian soil, riding the Grand Tour of his home country. His name? Antonio Andolini!

(yes, with an exclamation mark)



Result - Stage 3

1	Antonio Andolini	Cattelan Italia	4h10'37
2	Nairo Quintana	Movistar Team	+ 54
3	Dylan Teuns	BMC Racing Team	+ 2'04
4	Adam Yates	Team Sky	+ 2'22
5	Mikel Landa	Astana Pro Team	+ 2'30
6	Tom Jelte Slagter	Team Cannondale - Garmin	s.t.
7	Rigoberto Uran	Movistar Team	s.t.
8	Rein Taaramae	Cattelan Italia	s.t.
9	Carlos Alberto Betancur	MTN-Qhubeka	+ 2'55
10	Jakob Fuglsang	Orica-GreenEDGE	s.t.

General Classification

1	Antonio Andolini	Cattelan Italia	9h03'15
2	Nairo Quintana	Movistar Team	+ 1'34
3	Dylan Teuns	BMC Racing Team	+ 3'02
4	Rigoberto Uran	Movistar Team	+ 3'12
5	Rein Taaramae	Cattelan Italia	+ 3'18
6	Tom Jelte Slagter	Team Cannondale - Garmin	+ 3'32
7	Adam Yates	Team Sky	+ 3'33
8	Vincenzo Nibali	Astana Pro Team	+ 3'34
9	Jakob Fuglsang	Orica-GreenEDGE	+ 3'38
10	Mikel Landa	Astana Pro Team	s.t.

Points Classification

1	Antonio Andolini	Cattelan Italia	70
2	Danny Van Poppel	Team LottoNL - Jumbo	32
3	Nairo Quintana	Movistar Team	21
4	Jan Brockhoff	Team Giant-Alpecin	20
5	Davide Cimolai	Movistar Team	18

Mountain Points Classification

1	Antonio Andolini	Cattelan Italia	14
2	Yoann Offredo	Ag2r La Mondiale	10
3	Nairo Quintana	Movistar Team	8

FonsDeSpons wrote:
wow what an impressive giro so far! and we're only 3 days in...

Reveille wrote:
That is a fantastic start to the Giro for Antonio! Is his sprinting really that good that he can fight for bunch sprints in the Giro?

Tamijo wrote:
What a start, already 1'34 up on Nairo, more than 3 minutes on everyone else. Course if will be difficult in the mountains but that was brilliant.

jandal7 wrote:
Ando showing his spartacus track skills there and also a dominant performance in the hills. Points classification is what a rider with smarts and good skills in flat, hills, sprints and time trials (and cobbles) is built for if he is fit and pays attention, so Ando's fight for red should be very entertaining.