Outstanding Zambanini and Pidcock nearly surprise 'king' Pedersen: "But when you have a rider like Vacek..."

Zambanini was still far behind at the start of the sprint. From around the tenth position, he came charging up the inside. "In the end, I did my job until the last kick, and then I went full gas till the end," he told Cycling Pro. "I felt good in the final sprint, and my legs were strong. That kind of finish suits me, and I gave it everything I had." The 24-year-old Italian ultimately lost by half a wheel; it would have been his first professional victory.

On the climb, the young Italian suffered greatly, partly due to an acceleration by Primoz Roglic. "Roglic tried, but the tempo was so high that it was difficult to create a gap there. I was always in the top 20, with Damiano (Caruso, ed.) and my teammates. Then I was able to give it my all." Teammate Caruso tried to break away but eventually finished ninth. Lead rider Antonio Tiberi also crossed the finish line safely in 22nd place.

Pidcock finished third. The Q36.5 lead rider briefly hoped that Pedersen would drop back, but he came back. "Unfortunately," the Brit laughs afterward. "It was a hard final. The race is so hard these days, but there are still 100 guys left in the bunch. I had to stay focused and time my sprint well. I was on Mads' wheel, and he didn't kick as hard as I had expected. I didn't want to be in the wind too early, so I had to kind of slow down a bit, but once I was out of the wheel, I couldn't get past him. It was a drag race, and that's impossible against him. Maybe I should have straight past."

Still, the mountain biker is not dissatisfied with his first podium place in the Giro. "It wasn't bad. It wasn't a perfect finish for me, although it was explosive." A breakaway during the race was not an option. "No, not really. There's not much you can do when you have a guy like Vacek on the front. You just have to stay with him. It was fast, and I was quite far back. Then I just wanted to follow. I thought I would try something on the top, where it might be possible. But the climb was too short," he concludes.