For Edoardo Affini, Viadana was truly a special emotion. Beyond the celebrations for his teammate Olav Kooij's sprint victory, there was the joy of arriving home and greeting his family. After the finish, he melted into his partner's embrace and was overwhelmed by the affection of his fans who literally competed for selfies and autographs. Like a true superstar, Edoardo soaked up all the warmth of his people and the compliments from captain Van Aert with a pat on the shoulder for the excellent work done.

"It was a crazy day, after all it doesn't happen every year to arrive near home and moreover we also won, so the celebration was complete. Honestly, I didn't expect to see so many people for the Giro, but it's all really beautiful, my friends are here, my girlfriend is here, and even her parents who came specifically from Holland to greet me," Edoardo Affini told tuttobiciweb. "These are roads I know very well because I often train here and they hold no secrets: the only way to make a difference is to go all out on the long flat stretches without ever looking back."

The Visma Lease a Bike's day was practically perfect. They first controlled the three-man breakaway attempt and then took control, positioning Olav Kooij in the best possible position for the final sprint. "We all fought hard to bring Olav Kooij forward, that was our declared goal for the day, we wanted to win. In the last 10 kilometers we got a bit lost, but then 3 km from the finish line I took my teammates and launched them in the last kilometer like a motorcycle. Van Aert then did the final part of the work by taking the last turn at the front. It was exactly as we had imagined. If we look at perfection, perhaps I should have started in the line and brought the group to the turn, but I believe perfection is practically impossible to achieve. Anyway, a beautiful victory that I really cared about came out."

Affini's work remains fundamental to the team's balance. He is the key man in Olav Kooij's sprints and in guiding the group through transition stages. In time trials, his signature discipline, he brought home a fourth and a fifth place, leading to a totally positive Giro assessment. "The team's Giro started uphill, Wout was sick and Olav had broken his collarbone at Gent Wevelgem, but fortunately from the first stage we reached the podium and from that moment our fine-tuning officially began. I'm sorry that in Lecce Olav missed the right moment and in Naples was closed in the sprint, essentially two sprints not contested. As for me, I'm very satisfied with my performances. In time trials, I didn't get the result I hoped for, but I still did excellent performances. In the next few days, I'll continue working for sprints and in mountain stages I'll be at Simon Yates' service, and never say never, I hope to have my chances to go on the attack," concludes Edoardo, who tomorrow in Vicenza will again be at his captains' service, but the possibility of seeing him in a breakaway in a transition stage is not excluded.