"Salve a tutti," grinned Giulio Ciccone as he sat in the press conference room at Cogne. After his victory in the Giro d'Italia, the world seems a totally brighter place. Everyone is my friend."

"About his solo victory in the Alps on the first day of the Giro, Ciccone joked. 'This victory came after a long and difficult period of bad luck. But it came. ......."

Ciccone's joy in the Valle d'Aosta was in stark contrast to his anguish in the blockhouse on stage 9 a week earlier. Born near Chieti, Ciccone knew the final climb better than anyone else in the race, but he was unceremoniously left behind the pink jersey group on the downhill and lost over nine minutes.

His hopes of winning the overall were immediately ended, but the aftermath lasted a little longer. On the descent to the Trek-Segafredo bus after the stage, a dejected Ciccone chatted somberly with a group of equally dejected friends and family.

Illness hampered Ciccone's approach to the Giro, and his hardship did not come out of the blue. However, after losing in front of his home crowd, Ciccone had to remain in his hometown of Abruzzo during the rest day.

"It was a good kick for me," he said. 'It wasn't a surprise, but when you're at home in a blockhouse like that, and then you have a rest day, and you're still amongst your peers, the feeling is even worse. It was tough, but I tried to focus and do the best I could. The problems I had before the Giro limited me a little bit, but I told myself that sooner or later my chance would come."

Trek-Segafredo teammate Juan Pedro López's longtime pint jersey limited Ciccone's attack range, but he got his chance on stage 15 in Cogne. After smartly measuring his efforts during the break on the category 1 climbs of Pila Les Fleurs and Verlogne, Ciccone dropped Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain-Victorius) and Hugh Kersee (EF Education-Easy Post) on the steepest part of the final climb, and the 2016 sestra and the 2019 Ponte di Legno to earn his third career Giro sectional victory.

"The attack I made was not a desperation attack, it was simply one that Giulio Ciccone does when he feels good. I have been the target of criticism, and of course I accept criticism, but I feel that some of it has been exaggerated."

Ciccone's winning performance moved him up to 16th overall. Although his yellow in that year's Tour de France foreshadowed his development into a Grand Tour contender, Ciccone was hit by illness and bad luck on numerous occasions in the following years.

After COVID-19 ruined the 2020 Giro, he crashed in the final week of last year's race when he looked to be in contention for a top-six overall finish. The same thing happened again at the Vuelta a España, where Ciccone moved up in the second half of the race, but again ended with a crash.

"Last year was a special year," he said. Last year's Giro was in optimal conditions and I was able to ride with the GC riders on every stage." On stage 17 I was in fifth or sixth place overall and then I crashed. I also tried for GC in the Vuelta, but I crashed on the same stage.

"There is no point in denying that I am not in the same category as Pogachar and Roglic. I wanted to this year, but things started to go wrong from Tirreno-Adriatico. I also contracted COVID-19 and got bronchitis. That messed up my preparation and prevented me from going for the GC. "

Ciccone's former teammate Vincenzo Nibali is set to retire at the end of the season, further highlighting Italy's lack of stage racing talent. Six years after his native Italy last won the Giro, the overall race is once again led by two veterans, Nibali (8th in 2 hours 58 minutes) and Domenico Pozzovivo (5th in 1 hour 01 minutes). Ciccone, now 27, has long been touted as the next generation of riders, even though he has yet to finish in the top 10 in a Grand Tour.

"I have always said that the comparison with Nibali is too strong. He won everything he could win. So to be compared to him is a big responsibility," Ciccone said. If I only talk about myself, I am competitive and I am convinced that I can do well in GC. But there are some factors that I can't control. I've had a lot of bad luck."