Outstanding performance clinches the third place!

What does this third place mean for you?I don’t want to overrate it. I´m of the opinion that in cycling only the victories count and if you finish in third or twenty-third position, that doesn’t make much difference. The team was pleased and I´m happy to have been able to cover all the attacks and keep up with the best riders.Were you confident to pull off a good finish? I should have attacked a bit earlier, with 200m to go, maybe. I might have won as I was feeling really great. The moment after I finished I felt more disappointed than happy. Too bad we didn’t catch the Belgian rider, it was really close. But that’s the way it goes in sport.What are the prospects of the race development after the today’s stage?Hard to say. Today´s stage gave us just a small hint of what the Giro would be like. Things will get serious later on and the tougher stages are yet to come. So far I have been feeling good and I have had a good feeling about our team. Masciarelli, Kiserlovski and Tiralongo stayed with me on the final climb today and they are the riders who I will be counting on most in the mountains.Are you looking forward to the Sunday´s finish atop Etna? Most importantly, another long stage is coming tomorrow. It should end in a bunch sprint but we will see how it develops. Hell will break loose on Sunday. We hear that the volcano has become calm and the airport in Catania has been open again, so everything should go off smoothly.7th stage (Maddaloni – Montevergine di Mercogliano, 110 km): 1st B. De Clercq (Bel/Lotto) 2:54:47, 2nd Scarponi (Ita/Lampre), 3rd Roman Kreuziger (Cze/Astana), 4th Garzelli (Ita/Acqua e Sapone), 5th Nibali (Ita/Liquigas), 6th Rodriguez (Spa/Katusha).Overall: 1st Weening (Ned/Rabobank) 23:09:59, 2nd Sivcov (Bel/HTC-Highroad), 3rd Pinotti (Ita/HTC-Highroad) +2, 4th Le Mevel (Fr./Garmin) +5, 5th Scarponi +14, 6th Lastras (Spa/Movistar), … 14th Roman Kreuziger +44.