MILRAM shooting star increases lead in ranking as best climber with an aggressive performance

Dortmund, 13. May 2010. After a hard day’s work in the fifth stage of the 93rd Giro d’Italia, MILRAM shooting star Paul Voß defended his lead in the ranking for the best climber, and even built up his lead. He rode aggressively again on Thursday and won both mountain rankings in the escape group of the day, earning important points in the fight for the Giro’s green jersey.

“At the beginning I absolutely wanted to be in the escape group, to hold on to my chances. Until then we had controlled everything and made sure that my rivals didn’t get away. The guys did a really great job,“ said a happy Paul Voß after the winners’ ceremony. “In the finale, my battery was empty and I had to fall back. It never occurred to me that the escape might come through to the end. I am overjoyed with my performance today.“

“That was a super performance by Paul Voß! We had to work hard to get ‘Vossi’ in the escape group. So that makes us all the happier that our plan worked out and he could defend the mountain jersey,“ said a satisfied Christian Henn, MILRAM’s Directeur Sportif. “Near the end we tried again to set up a sprint. But the peloton figured things wrong and let the escapees through to the finish.“

The stage win after 168 kilometers between Novara and Novi Ligure went to Voss’ escape companion Jerome Pineau. The French rider from Team Quick Step successfully completed a long escape ahead of his landsman Julien Fouchard (Cofidis) and Japanese rider Yukiya Arashiro, reaching the finish line only metres ahead of the onrushing field. Paul Voß rode with the successful trio at the head of the race until 25 km left to go. „Then he had to drop back exhausted and rode to the finish with the peloton,“ Christian Henn said.

In the overall rankings, Italian Vincenzo Nibali defended his pink jersey. Best MILRAM rider is Linus Gerdemann in 13th place.

After 25 km, MILRAM’s Paul Voß was able to become part of a four-man escape group. Together with Japan’s Yukiya Arashiro (Bouygues Telecom) and the two French riders Jerome Pineau (Quick Step) and Julien Fouchard (Cofidis), Voß rode ahead of the field. Underway, the 24-year-old secured for himself both mountain rankings and built up his lead in that category. At the first crossing of the finish line in Novi Ligure, about 30 kilometers before the end of the stage, the quartet had a lead of less than three minutes. With 25 km to go, Paul Voß let his escape companions go and fell back to the peloton, exhausted but successful.
Friday’s sixth stage runs 172 km between Fidenza and Marina di Carrara. In his fight for the mountain jersey, MILRAM’s Paul Voß will face two difficult climbs at the Passo del Brattelo (946 m) and Spolverina (654 m).