Third second place of the race earns Colombian climber young riders’ classification lead
Carlos Betancur (AG2R La Mondiale) was one of the most aggressive riders from the top ten in today’s 15th stage of the Giro d’Italia to Les Granges du Galibier, putting in several attacks on both the Cols du Télégraphe and Galibier, and took his third second place of the race so far. His reward for yet another near-miss [he also took third place in yesterday’s rainy stage to Bardonecchia - ed] was the white jersey of the young riders’ classification as the 12-second time bonus saw him leapfrog incumbent Rafal Majka (Saxo-Tinkoff).
“The white jersey was a goal for me and the whole team has worked very well to help me to give me this jersey today,” said Betancur after the stage. “It is unfortunate that Domenico [Pozzovivo] fell because we could have also gone for the stage win. I will continue to try my luck to win a stage and I will fight to the end to keep this white jersey.”
Betancur’s good fortune on the stage was matched by the misfortune of AG2R La Mondiale teammate Pozzovivo, who crashed on the descent of the Télégraphe. Hard work from the French team limited the Italian’s losses to the rest of the contenders, however, but - as Betancur rose from ninth to seventh - Pozzovivo slipped from seventh to ninth.
"The second place and white jersey of Carlos are for us a good satisfaction but if Domenico hadn’t fall the race situation could have been a little more to our advantage,” said AG2R La Mondiale directeur sportif Laurent Biondi. “When you see the work carried out by Hubert [Dupont] to bring Domenico back after crossing Valloire, it is unfortunate that we couldn’t focus the efforts of these two riders at the same time to win the stage.”
As the Giro heads into its second rest day, however, AG2R La Mondiale is one of the two teams with two riders inside the top ten with three more mountain stages to come.