luckyboy said:
He has had good TTs in big races before, so the performance today can be accepted as a breakout.
But it is a struggle to find any mountain stage where he has finished in the top 50 though. Alpe di Siusi (27th @ 2'17") and Monte Petrano (24th @ 7'05") from the 2009 Giro are just about the best ones. Also, 9th @ 2'01" on a
Brixia Tour 2010 stage.
I mean, he may have had good climbing potential, but you'd expect there to be some kind of incremental improvement in results before a big breakthrough such as this.
Finished in this group on the Monte Grappa stage last year:
17. [ITA] CATALDO Dario QST 04'46" 0
18. [ESP] MORENO FERNANDEZ Daniel OLO 04'46" 0
19. [NED] KRUIJSWIJK Steven RAB 04'46" 0
20. [FRA] VOECKLER Thomas BTL 04'46" 0
21. [ITA] BISOLTI Alessandro COG 04'46" 0
22. [RUS] KARPETS Vladimir KAT 04'46" 0
23. [GBR] FROOME Chris SKY 04'46" 0
24. [AUS] PORTE Richie SAX 04'46" 0
25. [FRA] GADRET John ALM 04'46" 0
26. [COL] ARDILA CANO Mauricio Alberto RAB 04'46" 0
27. [CRO] KISERLOVSKI Robert LIQ 04'46" 0
28. [RUS] TROFIMOV Yury BTL 04'46" 0
29. [DEN] SÖRENSEN Chris Anker SAX 04'46" 0
30. [ITA] CARUSO Giampaolo KAT 04'46" 0
I do not remember his position over the top of the climb though, don't have the footage on me either to check. Most of them are reasonable climbers without being exceptional. The next day on Zoncolan he was nowhere. I will be surprised (and a little concerned) if he stays at this level for 3 weeks.