Philip Deignan (right) and Ben Swift (left) have echoed team management's sentiments in paying tribute to Ireland for the atmosphere here during the Giro.
Philip Deignan and his Team Sky squad have issued a special thank you to Ireland north and south for the warmth of the welcome and send off enjoyed on the opening three days of the Giro d’Italia at the weekend.
The team has said it was taken aback by the atmosphere over the three-day big start, with Briton Ben Swift and Irish man Philip Deignan having received a particularly big welcome from the Irish crowds.
The team said with Deignan’s family home in Letterkenny, Co Donegal, so close to the Belfast start and with the climbing specialist having spoken before about being inspired by the visit in 1998 of the Tour de France to Ireland, it was delighted to see him being so well received.
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Deignan echoed those sentiments today, having previously spoken to stickybottle about traveling to Dublin by bus back in 1998 and watching the Tour on his own in the rain.
“We’re talking about inspiring the next generation of cyclists and I’m one of those who started back in ’98 after getting the bus down from Letterkenny to watch the Tour,” he explained after the Giro Irish start.
“That was the day I decided I wanted to be a bike rider. It’s nice to think now that hopefully out of the thousands of people on the side of the road we’re going to inspire a new generation. It’s really exciting.
“I had high expectations (for the Giro) having seen the crowds back in 1998 and considering how much the sport has grown since then. It’s incredible and it’s really lived up to what I hoped it would be.
“Talking to the other riders they said they’ve never seen crowds like that except for at the Tour de France. It’s been an amazing three days.”
If Deignan was competing literally on his doorstep, the only British rider in the Giro line-up Ben Swift was enjoying the next best thing, with many of his family and friends travelling to see him compete.
He very nearly gave them something spectacular to cheer, just being pipped by Marcel Kittel for stage victory in Dublin on Sunday.
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That near miss aside, he joined team management and Deignan in singling out the warmth of the Irish crowd for special mention.
“It’s been absolutely amazing,” the Yorkshire man said.
“The crowd and the reception we’ve had has been unbelievable. All we can say is thank you to all the fans. The weather hasn’t been great but I’ve loved it.”
He added his almost winning the stage was thanks to a great team effort on the road from Armagh to Dublin.
“The team were absolutely brilliant again. I had to change my bike after I nearly crashed at one point but the team got me back perfectly and then chaperoned me to the front.
“(Salvatore) Puccio came back to get me and moved me up and then I was with Bernie (Eisel) who guided me in. CJ (Sutton) did a good job and then Eddy (Boasson Hagen) rode the final part.
“We linked in with Cannondale which worked out but when it came to the sprint there’s not much you can do against Kittel.
“You can see how far back he came from. He’s one of the best in the world. It would have been really nice to get the win but that’s how it goes. I was happy with my sprint and hopefully there will be more opportunities in the race.”
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Philip Deignan leads the Team Sky squad on the Giro-starting time trial in Belfast last Friday evening (Photo: Derek Union)
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