And then there's the other Giro, external and tangential to the GC Giro, so far consistently awarded to UAE. This other Giro has lasted since the start from Albania and will last until Tuesday: two and a half weeks objectively too easy, scary averages, real climbs zero (Tagliacozzo and Castelnovo are not climbs, hovering around 30 km/h), I'll keep only the Strade Bianche and time trials, everything else in terms of classification is bonus time, often the RedBull finish line is more significant than the final line (summarizing, route rating for the first two weeks: 4 for encouragement).

While waiting for serious gradients and heights, it's much better to shift the spotlight to the Other Giro, the Giro of stage hunters. And here we can talk about pure luxury. A single monument to Pedersen and to the Lidl-Trek team, magnificent dominators so far. Serious and authoritative people who face the Giro every day with maximum commitment and most commendable generosity. They would also have Ciccone's card to play in the first Giro, the pink Giro, but while waiting to measure him in the mountains, they haven't been idle, hiding, or waiting (right, Roglic?).

After all, the best summary of this High-Class Other Giro by Lidl-Trek is provided by Pedersen himself, whom I will never insult by calling a sprinter, because the classic sprinter gives up at the first overpass, while he is a total rider, certainly not a climber, but superb on tough terrains, whether it's Roubaix or these classic-type finishes. Here's the perfect summary: "We came here to win 2 stages, we're already at 5. We could go home tomorrow".

Don't even say it as a joke, my friend Mads. I can't even imagine what this chloroformed Giro would be (would have been) without you and your team. Be good, put in a bit more effort, to help Ciccone and maybe further round out your curriculum. But I'm calm: no need for a heart-wrenching appeal. Leading Lidl-Trek is a character who in terms of seriousness and commitment makes province, makes Supreme Court, that Luca Guercilena who survived with few others the Lehman Brothers-type hurricane that hit Italian cycling.

Keep going, the Other Giro is in good hands (cyclamen-colored) and keeps the race alive with valiant efforts, condemned by its architects to drowsiness. Experts say they wanted to design an easy route to attract champions, perhaps with the Tour in mind, but if that's the case, the trick has completely failed. By the grace received, here we have very young riders from Next Generation teams who fortunately go crazy, at crazy paces, with very high averages. And precisely for this reason, the route's poorness becomes doubly evident: for such unleashed people, yet so leveled, hanging by seconds, some more obstacles and efforts would have been needed. Nothing, Vegni and his orchestra thought differently, two and a half weeks moved only by Strade Bianche and time trials, the rest to be seen in the last two-three stages. And there's little to be done.

Thank you anyway, thank you for everything. Maybe next time, attach some salts to reach the final stages.