Sebastian Lang (Omega Pharma-Lotto) opened up the Giro for breakaways with a 219-kilometer escape in stage two. In stage 20, at the very end of the Giro, he was again in the breakaway. This time it was for different reasons than just getting TV time. Lang chased the intermediate sprint points and was successful in moving up into the top three.
It wasn't his only attempt to get away. "I tried the last couple of days to be in the break," he told VeloNation. "I didn't succeed, so today I was happy to be in the break." Besides the intermediate sprint classification there was also the competion for the most breakaway kilometers, but the day was less successful for Lang there. "I tried to clock up some kilometers, but unfortunately [Yaroslav] Popovych was also there. So I couldn't get the kilometers for the Fuga Pinarello competition."
Popvych is leading this classification with 354 kilometers, with Lang in seventh place. He still has 219 kilometres, as the break has to contain less than ten riders in order to count.
When Lang took his first solo flight, he had to take it easy, initially. "A couple of days after that long breakaway I did feel my legs. But I could recover because we didn't have to work so much as a team in the first four to five days." When the peloton hit the mountains he started to feel better and better.
Lang had no illusions about the finish in Sestriere. "On a day like today, with a big mountain stage, I am not going to look for a race result,” he said. When teams brought the gap down to under six minmutes, it was all but over for most in the break. "I would have to be strong like Kiriyenka - and that's not happening," Lang said. He did reach his main objective for the stage, though. "The goal of today was to win the TV sprint - that's what I did. Now I am also third in GC [in the TV sprints] - it was a little bit of prize money I was looking for."
Lang was not surprised that Kiriyenka stayed away. "He is a pretty good rider and he tried to go for the GC in the beginning. He lost some time and I was pretty sure he would try to be in the breakaway in the last days here in the Dolomites."
Lang quickly knew which wheel to follow. "Today he attacked from the beginning to be in the break. You could see him going very easy and I was sure he would drop everybody on the climb."
The balance for Lang after three weeks was positive. "It was a pretty good Giro, yes." But the specialist in the race against the clock said the race was not over yet. "I hope to have a good result in the time trial tomorrow. I don't know how the legs will be after today." He also emphasized the good Giro his Omega Pharma-Lotto team had. "We showed we are a strong team. We did a perfect team time trial. We had a lot of guys in the breakaways and we had one stage victory [Bart de Clercq in stage seven], so for the team you can be really happy."