Like van der Poel: Denz lives his "dream" at the Giro
DPA
· 21.05.2023
Nico Denz (Bora-Hansgrohe) gathered the team crew in the hotel car park late at night for a small victory party with a glass of champagne. The bundle of energy from the Upper Rhine couldn't really comprehend his fantastic days in Italy.
"It feels unreal somehow. I don't even understand what's happening at the moment. This must be a dream," said Denz after winning his second stage victory at the 2023 Giro d'Italia in just three days on Saturday.
Nico who? His name is familiar to cycling connoisseurs at best. Up until the start of the Giro d'Italia 2023, the 29-year-old had just three victories to his name in ten professional years. At the Bora-Hansgrohe racing team, he plays the role of the classic noble helper for the captains around the German hopeful Lennard Kämna to. Fetching bottles, closing holes, keeping the stars out of the wind. And suddenly Denz himself is standing on the big podium at the world's second biggest tour.
Nico Denz: Second stage win a masterpiece
On Sunday, Nico Denz took it easy on the 15th stage. The day's victory was secured by the American breakaway rider Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates). Kämna crossed the finish line just behind the group of favourites and will therefore start the final week in seventh place overall. The pink jersey continues to be worn by the French outsider Bruno Armirail (Groupama-FDJ), who finished 1:08 minutes ahead of former Tour de France champion Geraint Thomas (Ineos Greandiers) is in second place. A further two seconds behind is co-favourite Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma).
Denz's second stage win the day before was nothing short of a masterpiece. Denz had single-handedly made up a 14-second gap to a leading trio and then also won the sprint. "Close the hole, start the sprint, extend the sprint, complete the sprint and then win. That reminds me a bit of Mathieu van der Poel at the Amstel Gold Race (note: in 2019). Where you say that's not really possible," enthused his sporting director Rolf Aldag on Eurosport and sports director Jens Zemke added: "He's in the form of his life right now."
Nico Denz: Memories of Erik Zabel
Denz had made it unnecessarily exciting once again. One metre before the finish line in Cassano Magnago, the business administration student threw up his arms, while the Canadian Derek Gee came threateningly close with a tiger jump. Memories of Erik Zabel's faux pas in the 2004 Milan-San Remo spring classic came flooding back, but it was to be enough - by just a few centimetres.
Nico Denz can hardly be rattled anyway. That's how he has always handled his career, which has taken a rather unusual course. After leaving school, Denz went to France, joined the AG2R junior team, learnt the language and culture there. And had to make his way in a team that produced big names such as former Tour de France runner-up Romain Bardet. Denz only switched to the German-Dutch DSM team in 2021 before moving on to Bora at the start of the year.
Nico Denz at the Giro d'Italia for the sixth time
There he actually wanted to recommend himself for his first Tour de France participation. In the end, it was the Giro again - for the sixth time. In hindsight, it couldn't have gone any better. "After the victory, you could see that the pressure was off the team. The Giro d'Italia is already won for us with two stages," said the father of two after the 40th German Giro stage win. But Denz is not finished yet: "We can go on like this for another week. All good things come in threes!"
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