Lorenzo Finn smooths the yellow jersey on his chest with satisfaction, adjusts the edges of his sleeves, and then begins to share his emotions: "The plan worked, and given the altitude, it was tough for everyone, but here I am in yellow, on the eve of two grueling Alpine days, since the schedule already features something like 5,000 meters of elevation gain tomorrow. In today's stage, I managed my advantage progressively and here I am in yellow".

For Lorenzo Finn, a day that started early with a coffee with his teammates at Les Carroz closed with compliments from Bernard Hinault. Now six hours later at Flaine, at the 1,844 meters of Col de Pierre Carree, came the crucial moment for the Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe team. As he climbed, the cameras never left him for a second, and meanwhile on the guest bus at the finish, his uncle, who had come from Sheffield, had good omens. Confirmed by the time splits.

Do you have a strategy for the next stages or will you rely on your feelings?

"We'll see" - Lollo dodges a bit - "I'll race by controlling the gap from my rivals and keeping in mind all the meters to climb and the finish at 2,700 meters altitude".

Before that, if it needed to be reminded, there's the grand Italian finale at Lago Serru'.