Ciccone was not the only rider to perform in a manner deserving of a thread today.
Also this Belgian fellow who impressed with his climbing, if not his English accent afterwards (sorry), and secured himself a first Grand Tour stage victory on the Plank of Beautiful Girls after several near misses in the Vuelta last year, where he was second, third, third, fourth and fifth in breaks, losing to Michael Woods on the day he got second, and a few weeks later he finished his season strongly with a third place in Il Lombardia.
He made his first real mark in April 2017 with a highly eyebrow-raising third place in Flèche Wallonne. Then he really smashed himself onto the scene in July and August where he obtained no less than 8 victories and won a ton of stages and 3 GC's in Wallonia, the Arctic Race and Tour de Pologne. Then he didn't win again for 22 months.
In this season he impressed with fifth in the Omloop and then again in the Dauphiné where he finally broke his dry spell. Sadly, that race turned out to be the first one in which he won a stage without winning the GC - otherwise, we would already now know who would stand in yellow in Paris 17 days from now.
Anyway, a pretty versatile rider. Good on the hellingen of Belgium, strong in the mountains, but his real asset must be his punch on steep stuff. His TT is also quite fine and he surprised in Valencia this year with fourth so may have even more potential also in that regard.
I don't foresee him becoming a GT rider, though.
Also this Belgian fellow who impressed with his climbing, if not his English accent afterwards (sorry), and secured himself a first Grand Tour stage victory on the Plank of Beautiful Girls after several near misses in the Vuelta last year, where he was second, third, third, fourth and fifth in breaks, losing to Michael Woods on the day he got second, and a few weeks later he finished his season strongly with a third place in Il Lombardia.
He made his first real mark in April 2017 with a highly eyebrow-raising third place in Flèche Wallonne. Then he really smashed himself onto the scene in July and August where he obtained no less than 8 victories and won a ton of stages and 3 GC's in Wallonia, the Arctic Race and Tour de Pologne. Then he didn't win again for 22 months.
In this season he impressed with fifth in the Omloop and then again in the Dauphiné where he finally broke his dry spell. Sadly, that race turned out to be the first one in which he won a stage without winning the GC - otherwise, we would already now know who would stand in yellow in Paris 17 days from now.
Anyway, a pretty versatile rider. Good on the hellingen of Belgium, strong in the mountains, but his real asset must be his punch on steep stuff. His TT is also quite fine and he surprised in Valencia this year with fourth so may have even more potential also in that regard.
I don't foresee him becoming a GT rider, though.