Orica-GreenEdge trio in survival mode for final week of Giro d'Italia
O🌃nly Tuft, Hepburn and Santaromita remain for Australian team




And then there were three. 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Mitchell Docker's abandon on the road to Montecampione on Sunday has reduced the 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Orica-GreenEdge contingent on the Giro d’Italia to just three riders as the race enters a final week that sport director Matt White believes measures up to the toughest in history of the event.
The three riders remaining in the race – Svein Tuft, Ivan Santaromita and grand tour debutant Michael Hepburn – have not been without their problems either. After taking the first maglia rosa in Ire♛land, Tuft wa🍃s a faller on stage 4 and spent most of the next week covered in gauze.
"Svein is getting better, while Hepburn has had just one crash but he's ok. Physically he's going to hurt the next week but he's got such a big engine that I think he's going to be fine," White🥀 said. "Santaromita's ha🐽d some problems too but you can see he's on the way back."
During Monday's rest day at Ponte di Legno, RCS Sport confirmed that – for now at least – 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:stage 16 to Val Martello will feature th🔯e Gavia and Stelvio as planned, although a back-up route over the Passo del Tonale and Passo Castrin has also been prepared should conditions deteriorate overnight and snow block the roads above 2500 metres.
"There would be no complaints from this team if Tuesday's stage was ✤shortened, that's for sure," White admitted. "The last week of this Giro is as hard if not harder than any hard week of any grand tour I've ever seen. Ever. You show me a last week that's harder than what we've got planned."
With four summit finishes to come in the Giro's final six days – at Val Martello, Rifugio Panarotta, Cima Grappa and Monte Zoncolan – White was realistic about h🌊is team's prospects between now and next Sunday. While the Italian champion Santaromita might look to sniff out a breakaway, the objective is to bring the three remaining riders to th♚e finish in Trieste.
"You've got to be realistic and take it one day at a time, especially wh⛎en we're a team in survival mode," White said. "We'd love to win another stage but at the end of the day, we've done what we came to achieve."
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Barry Ryan was Head of Features at Cyclingnews. He has covered professional cycling since 2010, reporting from the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and events from Argentina to Japan. His writing has appeared in The Independent, Procycling and Cyclin🎃g Plus. He 🌠is the author of , published by Gill Books.