Omega Pharma's Daniel Moreno came to the 2010 Giro d'Italia with ideas of overall success, but after a dismal first week and some missed opportunities, he found himself chasing stage glory. Stage 17 was a perfect opportunity for the strong all-arounder. He inserted himself into the breakaway, and in the finale, Moreno showed himself to be more than strong enough to contest the win with a number of solid moves, but that all important bit of luck just wasn't there for him on Wednesday.
Moreno was disappointed following his fourth place finish, 1:05 behind Cofidis's Damien Monier: "It's a shame, because the end of this stage was ideal for me."
Moreno put in a number of promising moves in the finale, but it was the counter to one of his moves that ended up being the right one: "It was after my attack when Hondo, Monier, and Kruiswijk went - they caught me at a bad time."
He was not able to follow at that crucial moment, but after some deep breaths, Moreno went again - and nearly took out a spectator when he attacked up the sidewalk out of the chasing group.
"When I recovered a bit, I jumped to connect with them, but it was a false flat, and there was a strong headwind. It was too much for one rider alone. I also saw that the chase had organized behind me, so it was useless to continue between the two groups."
The 28-year-old Spaniard got another chance a few minutes later when he bridged up to Team Sky's Steven Cummings. The two united their forces and seemed to form a strong pairing, but they didn't have enough between them to make the crucial juncture with the leading trio. Moreno was justifiably frustrated that they couldn't quite get up to the group, especially considering his confidence in his finishing abilities: "I am sure that if we had linked up with the three ahead, I could have won on the final uphill."
Wednesday was a day that Moreno had been targeting, but he feels like this won't be his last chance in the 2010 Giro: "I am getting better every day, and if there's a chance, I will not miss it."
Dani Moreno has had a fairly rough go of it at this year's Giro. He came in with some quiet hopes for the General Classification, and after overall finishes of 11th and 12th at the Vuelta, it would seem to be a fair goal, unfortunately, fortune did not shine on the rider from Madrid: "At first, I was unlucky, especially in the two days in Holland. The first stage, I was involved in a crash and lost a minute. In the second, I punctured while Astana was driving it and lost eight minutes. I didn't get into the escape of 56 either, so my chances in the general classification suddenly vanished. However, in the mountain stages, I've felt better every day."
If he doesn't get another chance, Moreno won't lose too much sleep though. The perennial almost man has his sights set on July's Tour de France and a quest to nail down a big win.