"Slowly, slowly": Tiberi saw white jersey rival Arensman "take off full throttle", but still manages to steal 5 seconds

After a challenging and not very successful stage towards Livigno, Antonio Tiberi lined up at the start of the next mountain stage of the Giro d'Italia with trembling knees. However, in the end he was able to look back on the ride to the top of Monte Pana with satisfaction. The young Italian finished fifth, making him the best general classification rider after Tadej Pogacar and Daniel Felipe Martínez.

This was obviously a nice boost for Tiberi, who gained five seconds on his white jersey competitor Thymen Arensman. With three mountain stages left, the gap between the two is 24 seconds. "I didn’t feel so good at the beginning of the stage," Tiberi admitted to Cycling Pro Net. "On the final climb, I started to feel better, so that was nice."

"When Tadej attacked, I saw Arensman take off full throttle. However, I decided to keep my own pace so that I didn’t have to put in extra effort. Eventually, I managed to ride up to him slowly, slowly. Then, in the last 500 meters, I went all out to grab a few extra seconds of time." Arensman also seemed content after the race, as these punchy hills generally don't suit him, and he had a flat tire just before the final climb.

Tiberi on Livigno chaos: "Right decision"

The Italian also commented on the chaos that had unfolded in the morning in Livigno, where there was a long discussion about how the snow-affected stage should be changed. "There was a lot of uncertainty, so we didn’t exactly know what was going to happen. It went back and forth, but ultimately they made the right decision to move the starting location."

"Everyone could see that Livigno wasn’t possible because of the snow," said Tiberi. "In the end, it turned out to be a beautiful stage. It was still a tough stage, also because there was rain all day long. It was at least 10 degrees Celsius warmer than Livigno, but all in all, it was tough enough."