Domenico Pozzovivo (Colnago-CSF Inox) proved yet again that he is one of the best climbers in the world with a coura­geous ride in the Dolomites at the Giro d’Italia.

Pozzovivo lost time to his over­all rivals on the rain-soaked stage to Piani dei Resinelli but bounced back with deter­mi­na­tion on the stage to Cortina d’Ampezzo. He rode strongly through­out the stage.

He fin­ished sixth in Cortina d’Ampezzo on the twist­ing fin­ish. More impor­tantly, his gutsy per­for­mance lifted him to sixth over­all, just 3:19 behind race leader Joaquin Rodriguez. Young team­mate Gianluca Brambilla fin­ished fif­teenth on the stage and is third in the best young rider competition.

Pozzovivo was the first to the sum­mit of the Passo Giau, with the Dolomite moun­tains and thou­sands of tifosi cheer­ing him on.

“I accel­er­ated near the top of the climb to test my rivals. Scarponi was dropped because he had cramp, while Basso, Rodriguez and espe­cially Hesjedal showed how strong they are. Until then I’d rid­den defen­sively but the stage showed that I can still be one of the pro­tag­o­nists of this year’s Giro d’Italia.”

After is strong per­for­mance, Pozzovivo is now look­ing for­ward to the final moun­tain stages to Alpe di Pampeago on Friday and then to the Passo dello Stelvio on Saturday.

“I love the moun­tains and I know those climb well. They won’t be easy stages but I’ll try my best. If I’m feel­ing good, I’ll go on the attack. Because they’re the last chance to win stages and are where the over­all clas­si­fi­ca­tion of the Giro d’Italia will be decided.”

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