Simon Clarke (Israel-Premier Tech) and Alessandro De Marchi (Jayco-AlUla) could almost taste the podium spumante as they neared the finish line of stage 6 of the Giro d'Italia in Napoli - the pair had a 40-second lead on the peloton with 4km to go and it seemed as if the sprinters' teams had miscalculated.
Their hopes were quickly dashed, however, as in the final kilometre, they glanced back to see the peloton barreling down on them and knew it was over. Clarke put in a half-hearted sprint but could only wince when Fernando Gaviria (Movistar) blasted past along with the eventual stage winner Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo).
The pain and frustration were evident on Clarke's face as he spoke to the media at the finish. "We make so many sacrifices that it really hurts when you go so close to victory like that," Clarke said.
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In another interview, he reiterated: "It's not nice to lose in that way, getting caught so close – I would have preferred to be caught with 10km to go than 200 metres," before adding philosophically, "You can't win them all but if you don't try, you'll never know."
The pair were part of a six-rider move that escaped in the opening kilometres in an attack started by the 36-year-old De Marchi, just 60 days Clarke's senior. Along for part of the ride was 38-year-old Francesco Gavazzi (Eolo-Kometa) and three much younger companions: Alexandre Delettre (Cofidis), 25, Charlie Quarterman (Corratec-Selle Italia), 24, and Alessandro Verre (Arkéa-Samsic), 21, although the latter was dropped on the category 2 Valico di Chiunzi with 100km to go.
De Marchi and Clarke got away on the Picco Sant'Angelo, perhaps undesirably, from the other three and had to spend some 70 kilometres fighting against the peloton along the Amalfi coast. The gaps seemed to be in their favour on a twisting, undulating stage as the terrible road surface caused havoc for the peloton with punctures, mechanicals and crashes the order of the day.
However, their luck ran out in the final straightaway and the pair's efforts would not be reflected with 88th and 89th place at the back of the first peloton.
"The stage was suited to a breakaway and we almost pulled it off," De Marchi said. "It was risky just the two of us going for it but it was the only thing we could do. It was disappointing that some of the young riders didn't have the legs or courage to come with us."
Between them, Clarke and De Marchi have five Grand Tour stage wins - De Marchi three in the Vuelta a España, Clarke one in the Spanish Grand Tour and one in last year's Tour de France.
Both riders are nearing the end of their careers. Both have narrowly avoided unemployment and struggled to prove their worth in recent years. Clarke was given a late reprieve by Israel-Premier Tech and paid them back with a Tour de France stage win in 2022. De Marchi wore the maglia rosa for two days in the Giro in 2021 only to not be renewed by Israel Premier-Tech last year. He landed with Jayco-AlUla in November.
Their collective experience and grit showed as they poured enough effort into holding off the chase while remaining cagey enough to save something for the sprint.
"We hoped to have the legs to stay away. It was close in the end and I knew that Simon was a lot faster than me in the sprint, so I played with him a little bit," De Marchi said. "I wanted to try to win. Second would have been great, too, but I played for the win. I did something that I've never done in my career: miss some turns.
"I tried to force him to start the sprint early and then get passed him but it didn't work out. It hurts not to pull it off but I'll keep trying."
Clarke didn't hold a grudge against De Marchi for playing cat and mouse, however. "At the end of the day, there's always going to be a moment when you have to decide to stop pulling. You can't pull all the way until 10 metres to go. We needed 10 or 15 more seconds, but it was just the way it was.
"Alessandro missed a few turns but I can't blame him. He gave everything he had and we wouldn't have gone so close without his contribution.
"I was perhaps lucky last year to win at the Tour de France, this year at the Giro, I was unlucky. But I can't have any regrets."
