With two gruelling weeks of racing in the legs and a daunting third week looming on the horizon at the Giro d'Italia, the peloton made the most of its final rest day by soaking up some much-needed recovery time before the mountains come calling.
With a heat wave hitting Italy, and temperatures surging to 30° C, it was time for sunscreen, cold drinks, gelatos and sweets for many of the riders going on a training ride.
“Rest day in the second week means we are all tired, we are all kaput,” said Ben Zwiehoff in his Giro diary on Instagram. The Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe rider stopped at a Como coffee shop along with teammates to enjoy a cold drink following a ride.
The NetCompany Ineos duo of Jack Haig and Connor Swift also cut their ride short and stopped by the same spot, while other teammates continued to find a climb.
Visma-Lease a Bike, and Soudal-Quickstep also shared photos and videos of the riders enjoying a break, or relaxmaxxing as Lidl-Trek called it. We learned that Jonathan Milan enjoys a Chinotto - “a traditional Italian soft drink made from the extract of the chinotto citrus fruit” - as the team also stopped for drinks.
The Decathlon CMA CGM team jumped into ice baths following their ride. It is unclear if the riders enjoyed it but I’m sure it was refreshing.
Pinarello-Q36.5 took the gelato theme a step further when the riders took to the road wearing the “Gregarius Pro Team Gelato Jersey”, which the team described as “a colourful and playful expression of another side of cycling culture, without ever stepping away from the Team’s performance-first DNA.”
EF Education-EasyPost also brought out new material, introducing the Muc-Off Alien Hunter helmet to join their green Giro kit with an alien-face and upside-down cow on the jersey. Every year, the American WorldTour team has to swap out their pink look so as not to clash with the race leader’s maglia rosa jersey,
Of course, it’s not all rest, as many of the teams and riders also have to fulfil media duties, offering insight either in person or remotely.
For the support staff, of course, there is no such thing as a rest day. Mechanics and soigneurs alike were kept busy cleaning bikes and preparing for the six stages ahead, though the NSN Cycling crew also found time to fire up the grill beside their team vehicles.
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