Mike Woods animated the finale of Milano-Torino, launching an attack with four kilometers still to race. The Canadian made his move on the final climb to the Basilica at Superga. The initial acceleration saw Woods gain a gap on 10 chasers. Then Miguel Lopez (Astana) bridged across.
“This was my first real two-man duel in a climb of this duration,” said Woods. “It was pretty thrilling to be apart of, and it hurt a ton. I attacked because I had good legs, and I knew it would force other teams to chase and give Rigo[berto Uran] a smooth ride.”
“When Lopez bridged to me we attacked each other several times,” Woods noted. “In retrospect I should have waited far longer to do my final attack; however, I lost a bit of focus and thought we were closer to the finish than we actually were. After making my final attack, we rounded a corner, and I realized we had a lot further to go. This is when I knew I was in trouble.”
Lopez sensed that Woods was under pressure and seized the chance to throw down a final missive. Woods, unable to respond, finished second to Lopez, nine seconds behind the race winner. Uran jumped out of the chase group to round out the podium.“The team’s plan today was to ride for Rigo,” said Woods. “He has been on great form, and the goal was to try to set him up for the win. I started as a protected rider with the responsibility of following any late attacks that could make it the line.”
“The whole team was great today,” Woods added. “Toms Skujins, Matti Breschel and Kristoffer Skjerping did a great job controlling the race and riding on the front. Kristoffer gave me a great lead-out. Without their support, we wouldn’t have been two-three today.”Full results here.