Seven years later, Giulio Ciccone is once again the king of the mountains at the Giro. The Abruzzese rider from Lidl-Trek, who also wore the pink jersey for a day in Cosenza, was by far the most combative rider in the race: three times third, always ready to seize an opportunity to attack and create something unexpected.

“I always gave it my all. I'm sorry I didn't win a stage, that was one of my main objectives along with the polka dot jersey – explains Ciccone, 31 years old -. I tried everything to win it, I really believed in it, but in the end I can be satisfied even though I wasted a lot of energy. Today I was empty, I was dead. I put everything into this jersey to bring it to Rome. It's not a consolation prize, it was a good Giro for me, and I'm very satisfied”.

In 2019 Ciccone had conquered the polka dot jersey with his victory at Ponte di Legno, the Mortirolo stage: “This time it was much more complicated, in 2019 it had been more fun, now more difficult, cycling has changed quite a bit in recent years and the level has risen, but the important thing is to keep up”.

There was also a funny moment on the Piancavallo climb. Vingegaard in pink approaches Ciccone and says something to him: ”We talked, Jonas and I have an excellent relationship. He told me clearly “go, the polka dot jersey is yours, it's not in our interest to win it”.

Then Giulio continues: “It was a difficult Giro. It's never easy to leave the general classification and dedicate yourself to stages and the mountain jersey. There were difficult days when I didn't know how to behave, I'm honest, and there was also tension on my part. Then as I went along I changed my objective and from there on a new Giro began to chase a stage victory and score points for this jersey”.

The Abruzzese doesn't stop: “Now a few days of rest, then the plan is to go to the Tour, I'll do it in support of Ayuso. We also have Pedersen and Skjelmose, we'll be a great team”. He already won the polka dot mountain jersey at the 2023 Tour: “It's one of the most beautiful jerseys. And then I still have personal objectives this season, there's also the World Championships…”.