Reveille - 6 in total! Quintana was the best in the mountains, that much is certain!

Ollfardh - Hopefully not

rogvi97 - That seems certainly so.

Masterblaster01 - T-H-A-N-K-S

sutty68 - He's always been fond of time trials and when the big time trialists are absent, he can really blow the competition away!

AbhischekLFC - Noted!

Ripley - That pretty much sums it up besides the mountains, of course. If you take the mountain stage out, let's say about 7-8 stages, you get a rapport of 6/13 stages won

Raziz - That'd be incredible. (Un)fortunately Antonio is not real

What's your favorite music?
I don't listen a lot to music. I know a lot of collegues in the peloton like to listen to music during training, but I prefer to ride my bike outdoors and you need all your senses to be aware of the traffic. But on a quiet evening I like to listen to the sweet voices of Elliot Smith or Nick Drake. On an adventurous trip, I might switch on something more contemporary like Stromae.

You keep your private life pretty much hidden from the public. Why is that?
I'm not keeping it "hidden", as much as I don't care to discuss it publicly. On my cycling blog I say personal stuff sometimes, not always. After all, if people find me interesting, it's because of my cycling skills, they don't care if I love Annette or Jeanny or what paper I read. It's not really relevant, I think.

Do you like to travel?
You can't really be a cyclist if you don't. I like being out on the road, discovering new places. The world is a giant flea market with millions of wonderful finds to be seen and enjoyed. That said, Varese is my home and I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. I can trek for months but then suddenly find myself lonesome for home. Only one thing helps, then. Just go home.

Many riders have good luck items or habits right before a race. Do you, too?
Not really. I'm not superstitious and if I was, I'd rather save it for the real important things. Cycling is my profession, but mostly it's a lot of fun and just a big game. My family is much more important and I'd save all my good fortune for them. Maybe also to stay healthy, because you can't put a price on that, you know.

Are you a religious man?
There was a time in Italy where you could only answer that question with one single word. But now, I can safely admit that I am not. You could say I'm a spiritual man, though. I'm not a fan of religion, it's totally disconnected with the truth and with reality. But I do like to think about the nature of our reality, and I'm open-minded enough.

If you weren't a cyclist, what would you be?
An astronomer. For some reason, the stars hold me in their grasp. I do love them so. If not, these are other professions I find honorable and interesting enough: farmer, construction, president. Hell, anything but a truck driver or a taxi driver. Despite my love to travel, I don't like being in a car too long. I need the fresh air, don't want to be stuck in a box. I'll have a lifetime of that when I'm dead.
Actually, scratch 'president'. I remember I said I wanted something honorable.

Let's go to questions about your cycling. What's your favorite race?
It tends to change, depending on what race is coming up or I'm racing. But I gotta say there are a few I have always loved. San Remo, the Giro, Lombardia, the Worlds, the National Championships... Paris - Roubaix, too. It's hard to fit in my schedule and the cobbles have been rough on me so far, but for some reason that race appeals to every fibre of my being. It's a race for heroics. It's my weakness. I so want to be a hero. My girlfriend always laughs about this but it's true: on the bike I'm about as vain as they come. Though off the bike I'm actually very modest, believe it or not. Only when it comes to racing, I tend to get a bit cocky, overambitious and vain. Sue me.

How would you rate your Giro?
Considering I won six stages and the Red Points Jersey, I'd have to say fairly well. You can always do better but that hardly applies to this Giro. All kidding aside, it's been the most wonderful three weeks, possibly the best of my life. I've worked hard towards this Giro and it paid off in ways I could have never imagined. If I were to die tomorrow, I would look over my career with a great sense of pride. But since that probably won't happen, I'll just go on and try to add to that career. It ain't over yet.

What's your favorite win in this Giro?
It's so fortunate I actually have a choice with this, and so many choices! The first stage was incredible, with the Pink Jersey. The third stage was a performance that I think was unmatched throughout the entire Giro. But my personal highlight came in the stage to Varese. To enter my home town, chasing a wild dream (and a breakaway rider), showing my strength, crossing that line ahead of the peloton. I cannot describe how it felt.

People say you're so all-rounded you could easily win all five monuments.
Easily? Using that word lightly, are we? Well, I gotta say... It's a wet dream of mine, I admit. But only one rider ever achieved it, and another came close. So far I've only won one monument, so I'm far from home. But, yes, I'm a dynamic rider, it's true. I can see myself winning Liège one day, Lombardia on a good day. Roubaix I don't know, I've never raced it. But Flanders is a special race, takes a very peculiar kind of rider. Who knows what the future holds. If I ever feel I have even a 5% shot of doing it, be sure I'll throw everything I have in it to achieve it.

Could you ever win a Grand Tour?
I don't think so. High mountains tend to dislike me, and the feeling is mutual.

If you could win one more race this season, which one would it be?
World Championships. The benifits of that jersey last you an entire year. Like a long and positive hangover.

What's your next objective?
To be completely honest, I need my rest right now. In my career I've never felt like this, I think I pushed my body a bit through the limits in the Giro and I'm a bit broken, both mentally and physically. I need rest, after that I'll see what the rest of the season might bring.

Surely you're the top favorite to keep both National Jerseys?
At the moment, I'm not even sure I'll be starting in either race.

One final question. Say you are in the World Championships race and you are ahead with Peter Sagan. There's still 10 km to go. What do you do?
I knock him dead in the sprint like I did in the Amstel.