Pavel Sivakov and Eddie Dunbar are set for the final testing stages of Giro d'Italia 2019 with Team Ineos.
Having gone into the Giro d'Italia without a clear team leader and lost Tao Geoghegan Hart along the way, Team Ineos's best result to date has been with Eddie Dunbar.
The Irishman, making his Grand Tour debut aged 22 years, was 3rd on stage 12 from a breakaway. He also went in the escape the following day.
However, with team mate Pavel Sivakov having been in the top 10 overall, and led the young rider classification for a period, the team has focused its efforts on him.
Now sitting 9th overall, Sivakov is 8:21 behind race leader Richard Carapaz (Movistar). And he is just 38 seconds ahead of Davide Formolo (Bora-hansgrohe) in 10th.
When Formolo went clear in a large breakaway that gained significant time on Wednesday's stage 17, Dunbar and Team Ineos rode to close the gap to protect Sivakov's position.
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And now the oldest member of the team, Christian Knees, has confirmed the next two mountain stages, on Friday and Saturday, before Sunday's concluding 17km TT will all about keeping Sivakov in the top 10.
“The young guys have done a great job so far. Pavel is going really well,” Knees said ahead of the race’s final act over these next three days.
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“Considering he didn’t finish his first Grand Tour last
year, before the race I am sure he would have taken where he is right now. It’s
a really good situation.
“We want to defend his place and if he comes out with a
top-10 finish that would be great. There are still two hard stages to come
where a lot can happen.
“But he’s looking strong and the team is looking good. We
are definitely up for defending it.”
If they can do that, and Sivakov avoids blowing up, Team Ineos will feel the 21-year-old is a healthy stage race prospect for the future.
The terrain today and tomorrow is such that it would not be impossible for Dunbar to get into a breakaway. But it looks more likely team duties will call him away from that cause.
For his part, Knees said he would ride for his young leader, who is little over half his age, the way he would the older Team Ineos leaders, like Chris Froome.
“It doesn’t really matter if I work for Froomey, or now
for Pavel - experience always helps,” he said.
“Of course a guy like Froomey has experience himself but
even then I can play a key part in the performance.
“Here it was more about bringing my experience into the
race and helping to teach the young guys a little bit around what to do, when
to do it, and be a little bit of a mentor.”
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