As the first riders of the Giro d'Italia arrived at the summit of the Brockhaus on Sunday and journalists at the finish line rushed to the finish area to capture immediate reactions, there was suddenly only one person in the completely empty media enclosure who remained glued to the TV screen One person remained glued to the TV screen. [Trek-Segafredo press officer Paolo Barbieri was patiently waiting for Giro d'Italia's Maria Rosa, Juan Pedro Lopez, to cross the line.

Exactly 1 minute and 46 seconds after stage winner Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) crossed the line, Lopez reached home. Hasty calculations revealed that Lopez's valiant defense allowed him to continue to lead the race on Day 6 by 12 seconds over the trailing Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates).

This gap is considerably narrower than the 38 seconds Lopez had on Leonard Chemuna (Bora-Hansgrohe) before the stage. However, it was a very noteworthy achievement to keep the lead on a climb that captivated many GC contenders.

Apart from the congratulations, Lopez apologized to Jumbo Visma's Sam Omen after the two touched down in the blockhouse. The incident caused the Trek Segafredo rider to briefly put his foot on the ground and throw his bidon in frustration.

But Lopez also expressed delight and disbelief that in the grand scheme of things, he kept the pink jersey for another day.

"I never thought I would get maglia in my first Giro," he said. I'm very tired, but luckily tomorrow [Monday] is a rest day."

He said of his brief contact with Omen, "I felt good, but I was on the verge of crashing and it was hard on my head. I had to stay focused and stay focused on the race."

He added that he "had to stay focused and stay focused on the race.

Lopez was Trek-Segafredo's sole GC leader during the Brockhaus stage. Lopez had promised many times that he would work for Ciccone whenever needed, but it was clear that was no longer the case.

"You never know what he's going to do, and he's had a bad day. So we'll see what happens."

As for Lopez's battle in the rest of the Giro, the similarities between him and Almeida, who is currently behind him on GC, are steadily growing with each day the Spaniard spends in pink.

In 2020, Almeida also took the pink jersey in Etna, and the Portuguese held onto the lead against all odds for over two weeks. Fast forward two years later, and barring a major upset after Brockhaus, Lopez could remain in Maglia Rosa at least until the race takes place in the Alps next weekend.

In any case, for now, Lopez seems content with his monumental feat of keeping pink in the blockhouse.

"When I started this stage, my dream was to wear the pink jersey for just one more day.