Battaglin: We're hoping for more with Pozzovivo

Hello from the start line of stage 13. We’re in Savona on the sea side. The atmosphere is very relaxed but we know that we have harder days to come in terms of racing and weather conditions.

During this second week of the Giro d’Italia, we’ve had great joy in “casa Colnago” with Domenico Pozzovivo’s victory at Lago Laceno. Not only has he done a great job but he also positioned himself as a possible contender for the overall classification in Milan. It has solidified the commitment of the whole team around him. We knew after his win at the Giro del Trentino that he was on good form but now it has become even more certain that he can stay really high on GC till the end.

We didn’t party so much after his stage win, or at any point during the race, apart from a nice tart on May 17, for the 22nd birthday of Sonny Colbrelli, who is the youngest Italian rider at the Giro. We need to rest and remain focused as long as we are in the race. But should we get some more satisfaction by the end on Sunday week, we might organize a real party after the Giro.

Pozzovivo is a shy guy but within our circle, he talks. He’s precious in the team for his great knowledge of weather forecast. Every hour, he reads the clouds and goes on the internet to study the images from the satellites, so he has a clear picture of what we’ll get in the following hours. At team meetings, he says it all. We are prepared for bad weather this week-end in the Valle d’Aosta.

Pozzovivo is unique as a rider. Unlike Ivan Basso, he prefers to stay at the back of the bunch to avoid crashes. He also wants to be the very last rider to start every stage, that’s kind of a superstition, but even en route, he’s often at the back of the peloton. That’s where we have to stay close to him. It’s complicated sometimes in case of echelons but it’s a pleasure to deal with that as it’s exciting to escort a potential winner. For my first Giro as a rookie, it gives me a precise job at his service. It’s up to Gianluca Brambilla to stay with him as long as he can in the climbs. I’m often next to him before the climbs.

I crashed at the beginning of stage 12 but the only damage has been caused to my right shoe. I I tried to catch the breakaway afterwards but I missed the right one. It’s not our priority anyway, since we have a big job to do for Pozzovivo. We’ll help him as much as we can. For the overall classification, the Giro is yet to begin. It’s still very tight on GC. After the rest day on Monday, it’ll be extremely intense until Saturday.

Let’s hope for the best with Pozzovivo. Please support him, he’s short but he’s great!

Enrico