Breakaway mates Matthew Lloyd (Omega Pharma-Lotto) and Rubens Bertogliati (Androni Giocattoli) (Image credit: Sirotti)
For Rubens Bertogliati, it was a total different feeling to lose stage 6 in the Giro d'Italia this year than it was to lose stage 14 last year. On Friday, he was dropped on the final climb by eventual winner Matt Lloyd (Omega Pharma-Lotto) but still managed to cross the line in second position before being caught by the first part of the bunch.
"I'm not disappointed," he told Cyclingnews after the finish. "Maybe last year I lost because I had made a mistake, but this time my adversary was just too strong for me. He attacked four times and I resisted, but the fifth time, there was nothing more I could do."
The Androni-Diquigiovanni team was obviously motivated as it put riders in all the early breaks. Australian Cameron Wurf was the most active up front. Bertogliati tried a few times, too, until he found a way to escape with Lloyd after 45 kilometres.
"I did a lot of attacks and Lloyd did only one," Bertogliati said. "That might have been an advantage for him at the end. He was fresher. He deserves all the congratulations. We never saved our energy along the way. I expected a climb at the end but not such a hard one."
Bertogliati also said his Androni-Diquigiovanni squad was determined to make up for its disastrous team time trial. "We rode well in the first part, but we experienced such bad weather that we lost everything at half way. It was hailing on our helmets. It was awful."
Don't be surprised to see the team on the attack again - even as it holds out hope for a good final general classification position for Michele Scarponi.
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