Pello Bilbao's Attempt, Pedersen's Victory

Pello Bilbao had Vlore in his sights. He didn't travel to the Giro to win it, nor even to make it to the podium. His mission is to become the lieutenant of Antonio Tiberi and, at specific moments, to wage his own battles, especially on days when escorting his team leader in Bahrain can be the task of any other teammate. He mentioned this in Loiu, as he boarded a plane heading to the start: he had several stages marked in the Garibaldi, the Giro's road book, but he wouldn't reveal them to avoid being monitored by other teams, which could restrict his freedom.

And Vlore, after the first two days, was evidently one of those stages. The port city became a coveted target for the cyclist from Gernika, although it has always been desired by neighbouring countries. It belonged to Rome, was annexed to Constantinople in the 8th century, invaded by the Bulgarians, later occupied by Serbia, and taken by the Ottomans in 1417. The Venetians tried to seize it but failed. At that time, most of its inhabitants were Greek.

In 1912, Albania's independence was declared in the port city, and it served as the capital until Italy invaded in 1920, only to return in 1939 when it fell under German control. Quite a tumultuous history. After World War II, Albania ceded the city to the Soviet Union as a submarine base, but with Khrushchev leading the Politburo, Enver Hoxha felt the communists were becoming less communist and expelled them. It was then that they began constructing bunkers without restraint, fearing an invasion that never came.

Since then, at least, Vlore has remained Albanian, witnessing only one more invasion, this time festive, with the pink hue of the Giro d'Italia. This colour, when 'La Gazzetta dello Sport' announced it would be worn by the race leader back in May 1931, did not sit well with Mussolini and the fascist leaders, as they felt it did not reflect the strong character of the Italian populace, even though the first wearer was named Guerra.

The one-day invasion of Vlore by Italians was met with joy, although Pello Bilbao took it seriously, attacking on the ascent of the most challenging climb in the road book, the Oafa e Llogarase, a long and steady ascent. With a group ahead that Pello and his adventure companion Fortunato needed to catch, they distanced themselves from the peloton. They quickly reached the front, where there was little strength left, and reached the summit with a 50-second advantage. Was it enough? No, for various reasons. "I felt a bit better. I was eager to break away if I saw an opportunity, if I saw any movement. Fortunato and I made a good climb," Pello commented upon reaching the finish, but "afterwards, on the descent, I wasn't overly confident. I noticed the asphalt was a bit tricky to interpret, and I preferred not to take too many risks."

The asphalt, which in the country's modernisation plans remains at the bottom of the list of urgent issues to address. It was the asphalt and also the grinding machine that the teams interested in a mass finish, especially Lidl with Mads Pedersen, set in motion as soon as they reached the flat kilometres leading to the finish in Vlore, the start and end of the cycling day.

"The last 30 kilometres weren't the most suitable for two small climbers, so we decided to ease off, as the move wasn't going anywhere," admitted Pello Bilbao, who takes a positive view of his effort. "Well, you never know, it's better to be at the front. If something happened, a dangerous split on the descent or whatever, it could be good to be ahead. And well, in the end, I was able to lend a hand to my teammates to get into a good position, they finished in a safe place without having to take excessive risks, and we safely navigated the first three days." He was caught 18 kilometres from the finish.

He will have more opportunities. Like Pedersen, who was clear from the start that he wanted to leave Albania wearing pink. "It was what we had planned from the start, what the team had planned." So Lidl firmly controlled the final minutes, on the undulating roads near the finish, and with 400 metres to go, after his teammates launched him, he switched to airplane mode, which in cycling is different from phones, and surged with strength, perhaps too early, but he withstood the challenges from Corbin Strong and Orluis Aular to claim his second sprint victory and snatch the pink jersey from Primoz Roglic, who had no chance of retaining it. He will have his chances, as will Pello Bilbao to capture a stage later on, with the Giro, which rests today, already in Italy.