Lozano leads the way to Monte Grappa at Adriatica Ionica

Spanish climber David Lozano made the early jump into the breakaway on the Queen Stage of Adriatica Ionica pushing onto the low slopes of the mighty Monte Grappa climb, the jewel of the Venetian Alpine foothills.

David Lozano:

“It was a key objective of ours to get in the breakaway today and see how the stage would play out. We knew that there was little chance of the break staying away, but if you don’t try…you never really know so we had to give it a go.”

“In the end I made it into the right move, we worked well together but it was very hot out there and the bunch didn’t give us much rope and we were caught in the early km’s of the Monte Grappa climb. From there it was about survival and man, I won’t be forgetting today in a hurry.”

Head sports director, Massimo Podenzana:

“We said in our team meeting before today’s stage that it was very important to get in the breakaway and show ourselves and our jersey. It’s great to see that David took that onboard and was alive to the moves and in the right position to make it up road.”

“I’m happy with that. We haven’t come here to fight for the general classification and our focus is on the breakaways and trying to help Andrea get a good result in the sprint stages. Today’s Queen Stage ended up being a day for the overall contenders, so playing our part for the majority of the stage is job done. Now we look towards tomorrow and what that will bring.”