Joe Dombrowski finished in 17th place at the Tour of the Alps last week, hampered by a 60-second littering penalty, but now looks forward to his role at the Giro d’Italia supporting Miguel Ángel López.
"I was hoping to do a top 10 GC, but we've got a little bit of a squabble over losing a minute," Dombrowski told Cyclingnews after stage 4 of the Tour of the Alps. "It was over throwing some bottles, but in the end, we couldn't change the decision."
Dombrowski contended he had only littered once, but the penalty was for two infringements on stage 4, which saw him drop out of contention for the top 10. "Realistically, the GC is so tight here that now, to be in the top 10, I don't think it's going to happen," he said after the stage finish. "And so I've come away from the race without a result."
"Also being only a minute back, it's not easy to just go in the breakaway. So you're kind of stuck. But I mean, it is what it is," he added.
Finishing 3:45 back from Romain Bardet in the general classification, Dombrowski showed strong form and was the top finisher from Astana Qazaqstan.
"I’ve been in the front group every day here," he said. "My condition is good." The result comes after a poor start to the season for the US rider.
"It was a little bit of a slow start for me to the season. I had a nasty crash at the Algarve and then I was sick. But now I seem like I'm going in a good way. I think I'm on a good track for the Giro," he added.
He described his role at the Giro as supporting both Miguel Ángel López and Vincenzo Nibali, though López is designated team leader. "We will go there with Miguel and Vicenzo," Dombrowski said. "And obviously, they're the leaders and my role will be to work for them."
Despite Nibali not being designated as team leader, Dombrowski felt that the Italian former Giro winner could still play a significant part in the race.
"Vincenzo has a lot of experience. He's won all the Grand Tours, and he's a big name in cycling," Dombrowski said. "And I think he'll be motivated to do something nice in his last year."
Dombrowski was also excited over López's form, after the Colombian won stage 4 of the race. "Miguel, you can see already here that he's going very well," Dombrowski said. "So I think it'll come together."
