Gee-West or Ciccone? Lidl-Trek's GC pecking order is finally clear after stage eight

Giulio Ciccone was racing on roads he knows better than almost anyone in stage eight of the Giro d'Italia. In his home region, the Lidl-Trek climber was desperate to contest the stage win — but no breakaway came to him. What stage eight did make unmistakably clear: all of Lidl-Trek's GC eggs are now in Derek Gee-West's basket. But Ciccone has other ambitions in mind.

Ciccone was among the first attackers, but could not get clear. The battle for the day's breakaway lasted almost two hours — and in the end, the Italian was not in it. Later in the stage he attacked again, but was given no room there either. His GC position meant Bahrain Victorious and pink jersey holder Afonso Eulalio could not afford to let him go. So he made a calculated choice: he let the stage go, conceding six minutes by the finish.

"The start was good, we were lucky with the weather," he said afterwards to, among others, CyclingPro.net. "It was very nervous. In the end I tried several times, but I was sitting too close in the GC. The pink jersey didn't want me up there. I gave my best for Derek, and then I took it easy on the final climb. Tomorrow a new Giro begins."

Clear words: no GC ambitions for Ciccone, who is going all in for stage wins. "We averaged almost fifty kilometres per hour for the first part. It was very nervous, and a lot of riders were afraid of a big group going. When we hit the country roads, we had a headwind but also a crosswind from the side — and that stretched the race out. Then the weather changed completely, and the race split. Suddenly it was a different race."

So the hierarchy at Lidl-Trek is clear: the GC pressure now falls squarely on Gee-West — despite his difficult day on Blockhaus. On Saturday he held his own with the favourites, with the main group riding relatively comfortably. The Canadian now sits fourteenth overall. "Everyone wants to be near the front, but as far as I can see, nobody took any time."

"The breakaway took forever to form. Cicco tried on his home roads — it would have been beautiful if he'd made it into the move. But everyone was all over him." Why was it such a battle? "It wasn't a clear GC day, but it wasn't a sprinters' day either. The breakaway had a real chance of winning. If you're in it, you've got a chance. That makes these kinds of stages an absolute war."

Sunday brings the final stage before the second rest day — another mountain stage. The summit finish on Corno alle Scale is deceptive: lots of manageable gradients in the early sections, but a brutal final three kilometres. With Ciccone now six minutes down on GC, the team's hierarchy is settled — though ironically he may have just given himself a better shot at Sunday's stage. That final climb looks considerably better suited to the Italian than to the Canadian.