This Giro d’Italia has a different flavor for Colombian Miguel Ángel ‘Supermán’ López, because he knows that it is a good opportunity to get back on the podium of one of the big three and, why not, win the race.
López, like the rest of the favorites, leave Budapest today without having in mind how to defeat the almost invincible Tadej Pogacar and how to counteract the power in all fields of his Slovenian compatriot Primoz Roglic, and that is already a point in favor.
It may interest you: (Miguel ‘Supermán’ López reveals his goal in the Giro d’Italia)
Already that they are not there is a relief, because from the outset there will be no fight for the rest of the podium, but the three drawers are available, since there is no clear favorite.
You can do it
Of course, without the two of them, the race becomes more open and more dangerous, because you would have to know the conditions imposed by the teams of your favorites, whether they are going to dominate from the beginning or leave the burdens to others, but what is clear is that for López this Giro is an excellent option to return to the top.
It is because it has already been four years of waiting. In 2018 he was on the podium of the Giro and the Tour of Spain, in a sensational season for him, but from then on it has not worked, he has not appeared again, He has not been in the photo with the best on the last day of the race.
In 2020 he had a good chance of being one of the ‘guys’ in the Tour de France, but the penultimate stage, the time trial, left him in his place, the one that occupies a cyclist that his forte is not the fight in these conflicts.
He came in third place overall, but in just 36 kilometers he lost time, three positions and finished sixth.
A bitter day from which, surely, he learned. It’s time for ‘Superman’ to fly and this Giro has a lot of mountains, six top finishes, four high caliber finishes and a series of very tough stages.
He is an attacking rider, who likes to get out of the mold and go to the front, with an attitude like the one he had in the stage he won in the Tour of the Alps, when he left the group, he caught up and overtook Thibaut Pinot and won the day.
He returned to Astana, to his previous team, after his sad departure from Movistar. He returned to his ‘home’, to his ‘family’, with the people who made him a winner and to whom he wants to answer for that trust they gave him, despite having left almost a year earlier to try his luck in Spain.
Miguel Ángel López has never been able to win a stage in the Giro, he has done it in the Tour and in the Vuelta, but in Italy he has not achieved it and that would be important on this occasion, when he is completing his fourth participation.
He will have rivals who have also prepared and with serious intentions to win, but the Colombian has his own, he is a strong runner and he understands that it is fair to confirm that 2018 was not a flash in the pan.
It may interest you: (Giro d’Italia 2022: know the 21 stages)
Lisandro Rengifo
Editor of THE TIME
@lisandroabel
#Miguel #Ángel #López #time #Opinion